


Technician

by coffee_enthusiast



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Connor Deserves Happiness, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Good Parent Hank Anderson, How Do I Tag, Pre-Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Reader works at cyberlife, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24124651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffee_enthusiast/pseuds/coffee_enthusiast
Summary: You are a Cyberlife employee working as a lab technician in the Repair and Mod department.One evening, you are pulled from your work when a man from HR enters your workshop with an opportunity for fieldwork. The plan was to oversee an RK800 prototype on its mission, making sure things ran smoothly. Thinking that this would be a great opportunity to gain experience and get noticed by the higher-ups, you hastily accepted the job.Suddenly, you are thrust into the world of crime-fighting and investigations and you start to wonder if you ever should have left the comfort of your workshop.
Relationships: Connor (Detroit: Become Human)/Reader
Comments: 9
Kudos: 88





	1. Opportunities Arise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader gets a golden opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers!!! This is the first piece of writing I'm actually publishing so any feedback is appreciated!  
> This story will be canon compliant for the most part, but I will be changing some things for story purposes! Also, this chapter is pretty short compared to the other ones I've already written so be prepared  
> Anyways, I digress, enjoy the story!!!

You puttered around your workshop, tools in hand, as an AP600 model android sat on the observation table in front of you. The client had sent it in to be upgraded to have many of the new functions the AP700 had. It wasn’t a hard job in theory, but modifying the parts and central processing unit to make them comparable was a time-consuming task, so it had taken you most of the day to complete. 

You were nearly done when there was a knock on your workshop door. 

Sighing and setting your tools down, you opened it to be met with a tall, middle-aged man. You noticed the grey suit hung unbuttoned from his body along with the messenger bag on his shoulder (he was probably going home after this), and how he stood tall, taller than you, with an air of confidence and authority. He looked around your workshop and you were suddenly embarrassed by the cluster of tools and supplies strewn across the many surfaces, along with your collection of empty coffee cups threatening to spill from your trash. You made a mental note to clean up before you went home.

The man looked you up and down, if he were an android you would be positive he scanned you. “Sorry to disturb your work...but I was told that this is where I would find you.”

You slowly nodded, “oh...yes, well...here I am…” you paused “am I needed for something?”

The man nodded “Actually, yes. I work with HR and the guys upstairs have been working on something big.” He said, adding hand motions for emphasis. “A new type of android has been in the works; hopefully, the first detective android of many. It can scan a scene within seconds, take samples and run them forensics records in real-time, pretty advanced stuff!”

You nodded, suddenly much more interested. You had heard whispers of this project in water-cooler chat whenever you entered the lunchrooms, the lab-workers always discussing how they can make their new model better.

“However, detective work is far from housework; we can’t exactly test it here. The DPD agreed to take part in the project, but they want to see how it performs before recruiting it for investigations.” He started to wander around your workshop, absently examining tools, “but that poses another problem...we won’t be able to see how it performs other than its memory files and its reports. Plus, if it gets damaged on the scene, there won’t be another to replace it until the next day, and that’s if we’re fast.”

“If I may ask…” you began, interrupting the man's rambling, “why am I being told all of this..?”

The man quickly nodded. “I'm getting to that... rumor has it we have a very talented technician in the Repair and Mod department…” He smiled and gestured to you. “you must have made quite a reputation for yourself given that the majority of those in the Dev. Lab agree that you would be best suited as a third party observer.”

Your eyes widened, mouth agape as you stared up at the man in front of you. They had suggested you? “I-I’m sorry,” you finally said after a long pause,” but I don’t know if I should...prototype or not, I’d be in charge of a state of the art piece of technology… I’m sure someone up there is more qualified than I am.”

“I'm positive you’re capable. I looked at your file, and if anything...you’re over-qualified.”

You stood awkwardly in your spot, weighing your options. Logically, there was no reason for you to turn this offer down. A golden opportunity just waltzed into your workshop and yet...you had an uneasy feeling about this whole thing. The main question that had been bugging you was why you? Sure, The man was correct in his statements about your education. You graduated from high school a year early and was out of college within two, earning a degree in artificial intelligence and robotics with an emphasis on engineering and development. But while your resume was decorated, you were still young and inexperienced in comparison to your colleagues. You were almost positive you would fall short of their expectations.

“I can see you still have doubts," he said with a sigh, "just...think of this as a tech demo. Your job is to provide feedback and possibly smooth over any bumps in the road. Plus, it's just one night."

One night?

You took a moment to think. Surely one night out of your workshop wouldn't _kill_ you, right? Plus, how were you meant to get your name out there if you turned down every opportunity that came your way.

Before you could mentally battle yourself anymore, you silently agreed with a nod, now looking up at the man with a new sense of determination. “I’ll do the best I can…” you paused. “When...do I start?”

The man smiled, pulling on his sleeve to catch a glimpse of the silver watch around his wrist. “The android goes on its maiden voyage tonight. The team will be at the front of the building in ten minutes for the send-off. I suggest you be there unless you're interested in walking.”

Your stomach dropped. The one night you two were talking about was tonight? You haven't even gotten the chance to mentally prepare and-

The man suddenly started to leave and your attention was brought to the time. Whether you were ready or not, the team would leave and you wanted to make a good impression. Especially if the whole point of this was to get noticed by those in the development lab. 

Swallowing your fear, you started to gather some supplies -packets of thirium, spare biocomponents, and tools- into a large bag. “I’ll get someone to finish the modifications on this android” he looked at you up and down one last time, “bring a coat.” He said, then he was gone, his shoes clicking down the shiny, pristine CyberLife floor tiles as he pulled out his work phone.

You ran a hand through your hair and sighed. After removing your lab coat and hanging it on the wall hook, you grabbed your large bomber jacket and slung your bag of supplies over your shoulder. What were you getting yourself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHH!!! Thank you for reading this far!!! This is just an introduction so all future chapters will be longer :)  
> But anyway, have a good day and stay safe out there!!


	2. Greetings and Salutations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader meets their assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is a longer chapter!  
> Enjoy <3

After clocking out, you quickly made your way to the front of the building, thankful for your coat as the night air nipped at your skin even through the thick fabric. You noticed a single black van and a small group of people standing by it. 

The clicking of your shoes on the pavement grabbed their attention and they all turned to you. In front of you stood a collection of people in lab coats, presumably those from the development lab in which the RK800 model was created. After the whirlwind of greetings and thank yous for accepting the job for them, you were pushed into the car with “Good luck,” ears catching a “you’ll need it” before the automated door closed. 

You looked around and became very aware that you were alone in the car...well, not exactly alone.

Directly to your right sat the RK800 you’ve heard so much - and yet all too little - about. It’s not what you expected (although you didn’t know what to expect). It was friendly-looking, chocolate eyes complementing chestnut brown hair and freckles adorning its face. It looked so human, more human than any other machine you’ve worked on. The only reminder of it being an android was the LED flickering yellow for a moment before smiling at you. “Good evening,” it said, “my name is Connor.” 

Its voice was soothing like most androids, but you could not imagine this one's voice making demands or carrying out arrests. Nevertheless, you gave Connor your name with a smile. “Hello,” you began, “I'm here to observe your actions through-“

“Throughout the night.” It interrupted you, “I’m aware. Rest assured, I am fully capable of completing this mission.”

Now, the way it spoke to you was not condescending in any way, but you could not help but gawk at the way it took over the conversation. Was it programmed for that? Not that it mattered really, but you wondered anyway. All machines were programmed to follow orders, they never disobeyed, and they certainly have never interrupted a human in the middle of speaking. Perhaps it was to compensate for its friendly appearance. At least, that’s what you told yourself to shake off the initial shock.

“Well...either way, I was hired to help you out…”

 ~~He~~ Connor stared at you, LED flickering again before speaking, “yes...I trust that you're capable of doing your job as well, given your records.”

You quirked your brow. Records?

Connor must’ve noticed your confusion because it quickly explained. “I scanned your face using my facial recognition software and ran it through all public database records to gather intel on you.”

You gave a breathless chuckle and wondered how many more surprises this thing held. “And what did you find?”

It cycled through the data found on you for a moment. “You are very accomplished. You graduated early from high school and at the top of your class in college. You also managed to land an internship with Elijah Kamski at the age of 18, but it was short-lived due to his resignation and the program was closed directly after. According to your past mentors and teachers, you are very dedicated to and passionate about your work,” it paused as if choosing its next words very carefully, “Yet...you seem to have plateaued in your career. You were rejected for the position of robotics engineer at CyberLife and applied to the repair and modification department as a lab technician directly after. This probably means that you accepted this assignment to challenge and prove yourself.”

You sighed and looked down at your lap. You were not expecting to be psychoanalyzed by a goddamn machine. But then again, you weren’t expecting to even be in the androids presence and yet here you were. 

“They really souped you up, huh…”

The android smiled after quickly looking up what the term ‘souped-up’ meant, “Yes, well I am the most advanced prototype CyberLife has ever created. It would be problematic if I were your standard android.”

You chuckled again and nodded before looking out the window, only to be ripped from the peaceful environment by the sight of police cars, news vans, and a large crowd all surrounding one building; the building you were approaching. 

“We’re here,” Connor said, preparing to exit the car. 

You remembered the off-hand “good luck” you heard before leaving and suddenly had an idea as to why you were the one accompanying Connor and not one of the employees from the development lab. 

The car pulled around the back of the building and was immediately swarmed with armed men accessorized head to toe in kevlar. You swallowed dryly as the door opened and you and Connor swiftly exited...Well, more like Connor swiftly exited and you started to carefully crawl out only for Connor to call out to you, “This mission is time-sensitive and it would be in our best interest to hurry.” it stated while continuing to walk away.

“Would it kill him to wait?” you muttered to yourself before picking up the pace.

You hurried up, passing someone as they spoke into their radio. “The Negotiator is on it’s way up, I repeat the Negotiator is on it’s way up, over.”

-

Walking through the lobby and entering the elevator had been easy. On your way up, Connor debriefed you on the situation. From what you could understand, a rogue android, a deviant had taken a little girl hostage and was threatening to jump off with her. Connor was there to try and save the child.

You gripped the strap of your bag as the gravity of the situation had suddenly hit you. This was not some lab trial back at CyberLife. There were actual risks, lives at stake even, and it was all riding on you and this android. Well, more on the android, but given that Connor could not feel stressed, your mind had decided to stress enough for the both of you. 

The rest of the elevator ride up was silent minus the sound of a coin being tossed between Conner’s hands. You curiously watched as it performed some tricks and caught the coin between two fingers. It seemed to notice your staring as it pocketed the coin. “I do this to calibrate my cognitive and physical functions.”

You nodded, “I see...and...?”

It...He straightened his tie and looked ahead. “Fully functional.”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. A man stationed in the foyer looked over and spoke into his earpiece, “negotiator on site.”

The hall was in shambles. The wall aquarium was shattered, leaving glass and puddles on the floor. Connor stepped in front of you, surveying the room. He picked up a picture frame containing a family portrait, his LED once again flickering between blue and yellow.

You heard crying, a woman protesting about how she couldn't leave. She rounded the corner, being escorted by one of the armed men, and grabbed onto your shoulders. “P-please, you have to save her- my little girl-” She begged.

You tensed up and took in her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears were cascading freely. You pitied her. “I-I'm sorry,” you said, “I promise we’ll do the best we can to-”

The woman looked at the android beside you. “W-we..?” she said, her distressed face only becoming more intense. “You’re sending...an android?”

You frowned slightly. “Yes, but again, I-I promise that-”

She interrupted you again, “You..you can't do that!!” As the woman started to enter into hysterics, the man escorting her started to pull her away. “Why aren't you sending a real person?! W...wh-hy can’t y-you go?! KEEP THAT _THING_ AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER-.” Her voice died into more sobs and the distance between the two of you dulled her cries as they entered the elevator.

You stared at where the woman once stood, frozen in shock. Being surrounded by the pro-technology attitude at your workplace, you had almost forgotten that the majority of people did not feel the same. Not that you couldn’t understand their distaste for the machines, you actually sympathized with them. You knew that androids couldn’t feel attachment for their owners and their kind demeanor was purely part of their programming; everything about them was fake. But even then, they were superior to human beings in most ways (whether or not people admitted it). It was painfully ironic. The world had entered another industrial revolution, leaving people jobless and the machines _physically_ couldn't care less. 

And yet, people needed them more than ever. 

But as you finally brought your mind back to the real world, turning your head to see Connor kneeling on the ground, picking up a fish and depositing it back in the half-full aquarium, you couldn’t help but wonder if something else was going on inside those central processing units. 

You walked up to him and sighed. “Sorry about that woman, I'm sure she's just worried about her child.”

Connor got off the floor and looked to you, “No need to apologize. I physically can not take offense and her words do not hinder me from completing my mission. Now. If you will excuse me, I’m going to go find Captain Allen.” he said as he turned into the main part of the penthouse, leaving you in the foyer. 

You quietly followed, feeling more and more out of place as you got deeper into the house. Things were broken, people were stationed at the windows with guns, and when you turned to the right, the mangled body of a man was displayed among broken glass. You felt a pit in your stomach open as you averted your eyes

Connor called out your name, grabbing your attention. “If you do not feel capable of handling the scene, you can wait in the-“

You frowned. “N-no! I...was just surprised...that’s all.” You came here to prove yourself to those in the development lab and there was no way you were going to hide off in the corner until you were needed, no doubt Connor would’ve included that in his personal report. No, you were going to get as involved as you could. Plus, you were quite capable, thank you very much. 

Connor stared at you, his expression unreadable before nodding and turning away. You looked around, eyes catching the dead body again and you forced yourself to look. You tried dehumanizing the scene in front of you, imagining it was another android on your observation table. As horrible as it sounded, it somewhat worked. 

You shook your head. Why were you trying to read into the crime scene anyway? Because an android said you were incapable of handling it? You ran a hand through your hair in frustration, reminding yourself not to let words get to you. You weren’t even here to examine the scene, you were here to examine Connor.

Connor.

Your eyes searched for the android, zeroing in on his CyberLife issued jacket. You made the couple steps over to hear someone - who you assumed was Captain Allen - speaking to him rather rudely. 

You frowned, frustration growing. Of course, tonight had to get harder. You approached the two of them. “Something wrong?” You asked

The man looked at you and frowned, “Who are you?”

“I work at CyberLife, here as a third party observer for this android. I take notes on its actions, it’s performance, even fix it if it gets d-“

The man waved his hand in front of your face, “I don’t care about the specifics. You said you work at CyberLife? Wanna tell us what went wrong with that machine out there?” He gestured to one of the screens on the desk. It was playing live video footage from the security camera on the balcony. 

You took a closer look. At the edge of the balcony stood an android holding the little girl Connor spoke about. You noticed the androids face, how it’s expression was twisted into one of anger and fear; two things it was not programmed for. Were it not for the thirium stained uniform, you would’ve been convinced it was a human being. 

You looked back at the captain and shook your head. “Sorry sir, but I have no idea what could’ve happened to it. If I could get it into my workshop then I could probably find the issue b-“

“You have no clue? Thought you would be an expert in androids,” he said, turning away from the screens to face you and Connor.

You frowned, while you were sure the Captain was under a lot of stress, his attitude surely was not helping anyone. “Exactly, I am a lab technician, not a detective. The android obviously seems stressed, so shouldn’t it be our top priority to placate it?”

The Captain scoffed, “Machines can't feel anything.”

“Whether it’s possible or not should be irrelevant. Machines don’t malfunction without cause, and I think it would be in your best interest to figure out what happened, don’t you agree? To save that little girl?” You said with a false sense of confidence in your voice, beneath that being multiple layers of fear and maybe even regret. You knew your tone was most likely unnecessary, but you could not help but feel exasperated at the things that got in the way of your work and handling these situations called for more assertive actions. It was different than what you were used to. At least in your workshop, you had control over most things. But out here, there were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong.

You could hear your heartbeat in your ears as Captain Allen took two large strides toward you and invaded your personal space. Connor stepped closer to you. “Listen,” he said, brows knitting together in anger. You were white-knuckling your bag strap to stop your hands from shaking, “I don’t need you, or that fancy android over here telling me what to do. So you better do what you came here to do before I take matters into my own hands...you know,” he looked at you, “to save that little girl.”

Captain Allen gave Connor one last nasty look before walking off, most likely to check on some other things. You released a breath and wiped your clammy hands on your jacket. You looked at Connor and noticed that he was staring at you. Was he analyzing you? 

“You should probably get looking around, I’ll be nearby. Let me know before you go out there so I can be on standby if you need me.” You said.

Connor’s eyes lingered on you for a second, probably longer than he should’ve before he nodded wordlessly and started walking around the apartment. You moved to stand next to the couch, careful to avoid the glass shards on the ground. You watched with great interest as Connor walked around, taking in information as he went. Taking out your phone, you started taking notes that you could give to the engineers in the lab once you got back. You noted how efficient ~~he~~ it was and how-

You cursed when two gunshots reverberated through your ears as one of the soldiers dropped to the ground. The android outside had shot him. Your hands were shaking again and you found it a little hard to breathe. Would you even make it back?

Shaking that thought from your head, you tried to return to your notes but you found yourself watching in morbid curiosity as the victim of the gunshot was pulled away by his teammate. You finally peeled your eyes away and met Connor’s as he approached you. 

“I'm heading outside now. But I think it would be best if you waited back in the foyer. It could be dangerous for you.” He took an unnecessary pause, “and I’m sure CyberLife would like to retrieve the feedback you have on me while you are alive.” Connor said, still wearing that blank expression. 

Despite your shaking hands, you had half a mind to protest, “You’re not the only one here with a job to do, I agreed to watch over you and I can't do that if I'm just sitting in the foyer, now can I?”

Connor blinked, processing what you said. “If you insist on observing, I suggest you watch from the window in order to make sure you don’t interfere with my mission and to prevent you from being injured. ”

You nodded and stepped past him toward the door. “Deal. Now let’s hurry up and go. I don’t want that poor girl out there any longer than she has to.” That and you wanted to leave, but you didn’t need to mention that. 

Connor nodded and walked with you to the patio, careful of making sure he was the one closest to the window before reaching the door. 

You peeled back the curtain, making eye contact with the android, the deviant outside. You quickly averted your gaze, looking back to Connor. Before he stepped outside, you gave a nervous smile. Why were you nervous? “Good luck,” you said.

He straightened his tie once more. “Luck has nothing to do with the success of my mission,” after a brief pause, he looked to you, “but your support is noted.”

Then he left, leaving you and the soldiers by the window to watch.

-

You would’ve been lying if you were to say you weren't worried at all about the RK800, especially after getting shot in the arm the moment he stepped outside. But as you listened to the two androids talk, your attention was brought somewhere else. Connor spoke with comforting authority, but you knew that he must’ve been programmed for that. The PL600 was different.

The anger on its face was genuine, at least it looked that way. You listened to what it was saying through the open door and as it expressed its grievances toward its owners, you began to sympathize with it. Not that you thought it had a right to threaten the lives of human beings, especially that of a young child, but you could almost...understand. You’ve tasted rejection and it was not good on the mind.

You saw Connor as he began to strafe to the left and you looked at where he was going. There was a wounded officer on the ground and he was going to help him. He didn’t need to. You know he didn’t need to but he was doing it anyways. You jumped when the PL600 threw Connor a warning shot, threatening to kill him if he touched the officer. 

The way Connor pulled off his tie and with a firm voice, yelled out, “You can’t kill me, I’m not alive,” made your heart ache and full at the same time.

The deviant and ‘The Negotiator’ continued their conversation and you could tell Connor was getting close.

You heard it tell Connor, “I don't want to die,” and you were nearly convinced that the fear it felt was as real as your own. 

And then it was shot three times after letting the girl go. As bad as you may have felt, you were itching to get the deviant into your workshop and scanned. That thought left your mind however once Connor came up to you again. 

You smiled, “Nice job out there…” you said before looking at his arm, “let’s get back to CyberLife, I didn’t bring the right tools for gunshot wounds.”

Connor nodded, leading the two of you back to the elevator, but not before a discrete scan of your vitals. Just ~~because he wanted~~ to make sure your stress had gone down.

The ride back to the CyberLife Tower had fallen into a comfortable silence as Connor was in sleep mode to send a report to the lab and you were typing out a report of your own. You complimented the engineers and developers for their work while also adding a couple of suggestions as far as interactions with the android go. You had to admit, the android could probably be a better conversationalist. 

You emailed the document to the lead engineer of the dev lab as the car pulled back up to CyberLife. Connor opened his eyes and looked back to you, “I apologize for not speaking, I was sending a report to my developers.”

You smiled and stepped out of the car, “It’s okay, Connor, I had to write a report on my own anyways.”

You and Connor walked back to your workshop. As you were repairing him, you engaged in chat about how he was developed and tested. He answered the questions with more detail than you expected, but you didn't mind. While he was talking about the old models, your phone lit up with a notification.

Sparing a glance, you saw it was an email from the lead engineer.

“We’ll be in touch.”


	3. This Old Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader spends some time with an android and a cynic.

You sighed as you wiped your hands on a rag, thirium temporarily staining the white cloth. Your adventure with the RK800 prototype had been three months ago and you still had yet to hear back from any of the higher-ups. You had basically given up on waiting after the third week and, minus the fact that you sometimes worked overtime in the hopes that the man from HR would walk into your office again, you had returned to business as usual.

You had long gotten over the thought that perhaps your efforts were fruitless and you’d never get promoted, but instead, you found yourself missing the excitement that came with work outside of work. Repairing androids is what you loved doing, but you found that the adrenaline rush that came with being a field technician was addicting. 

But you had work to do here.

An AX400 android stood in front of you. It was dropped off at your office a couple of days before, the files stating that it had been hit by a car and the client was requesting repairs. You suspected something else happened to it (you had received androids hit by cars before and this was just...different), but it was company policy to not pry into the personal business of clients. You have just finished the job and were doing a final diagnostic check.

Picking up your clipboard and pen, you switched it on, it’s LED spinning to life as its eyes opened. You smiled kindly.

“Can you hear me?” You asked.

The android paused and blinked, “Yes.”

You nodded, checking off its auditory units as functional. “Model and serial number?”

“AX400 #579 102 694.”

You nodded and made another note. The android has been so badly damaged, none of its memory was salvageable. The best you could do was reset it and do as many repairs as you could. After a couple of hours of work, it looked like it’s never been touched.

“Could you try moving? And give me your initialization text.” You asked.

The android paused, then smiled. “Hello,” it began as it looked around almost curiously before going off into its scripted tangent, “I am a third-generation AX400 android. I can look after your house, do the cooking, mind the kids…” it moved its arms “...I organize your appointments, I spe-“

A knock at the door.

You sighed, setting your clipboard down and looked apologetically at your project. “Standby.” You commanded.

It obeyed.

When you opened the door, you were met with the brown eyes of the android you had been thinking so much about. “Connor?” You said in surprise, stepping aside to let him in. “What are you doing here?”

Connor looked back to you, “The lead engineer wanted to apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but there was a great amount of paperwork to cover with the DPD.” 

You smiled and cocked your head to the side, “So they agreed to recruit you to their team?” You asked.

“Correct. I will be sent off on my first investigation once a case opens up.”

You couldn’t help but feel proud of the android in front of you. While you did not personally work on the development of the RK800, you tended to get attached to your projects, and Connor was no exception. 

“However, there were two conditions to including me in their investigations. One being that I would be assigned a human partner, and the second being that a professional would monitor me throughout in order to prevent me from falling into deviancy.” 

After that incident with the android on the roof, deviancy seemed to be all the media could talk about. While you personally felt the precautions were unnecessary, they made sense in theory, especially since Connor would be much more involved than a typical patrol android. 

“Well I’m sure you will have no problem in completing your mission, regardless of who you’re working with,” you said with a smile, picking up your pen again just so you could do something with your hands.

Connor nodded, “Yes, I have no doubts about that. I was asked by those in the lab who would be best suited as my observer, and given your experience, I suggested you for the job.”

You whipped your head back up to look at him, your pen clicking on the ground as you dropped it in surprise, “What?!”

Connor tilted his head, seemingly surprised at your reaction, “I assumed you would be honored to take the job..?”

You shook your head, of course you were honored. If anything you were relieved. After the three months of radio silence from the higher-ups, this was practically the best news you could hope for. What caught you off guard was the fact that Connor himself had suggested you.

Connor decided to explain further, “Out of the many people I have encountered, you have been the most...cooperative. You adapt well to situations, you are knowledgeable in your field of work and your lack of investigation skill also does not prevent me from doing my job given you don’t tamper with the crime scenes.” 

That last part irritated you a bit, but you kept any objections to yourself. It didn’t take much more for you to agree to accept the job, not that saying no even crossed your mind. 

The RK800 stepped toward the door, getting ready to leave, “I’ll let your superiors know you've accepted. I should also warn you that the scenes we will encounter will most likely be unpleasant, especially to those in your line of work.”

You sighed and leaned against the observation table in the middle of the room, “Don’t worry Connor, I think I have a better grasp on what to expect.” You smiled at him, and he responded with a nod. 

“I’ll come back and get you once I am notified of a case,” he said as he made his way to the door. Before walking out, he smiled, “I look forward to working with you.” 

And then he was gone, the automatic door closing behind him. You stared at the door and wondered to yourself if the engineers took your suggestion to upgrade his social regulations program to make him seem friendlier.

-

The rest of the day had been quiet. The client came by to pick up his AX400, a man named Todd. You asked once again what happened to the android, only to get the same response he wrote down on paper. You still weren’t convinced it was the whole truth, but you left it alone, deciding it probably wasn’t worth your time. 

A contract had made its way to your inbox well, and a long one at that. You scrolled through the document, scanning through the stipulations regarding your job and what was expected of you. At the end of the document was where you were meant to sign along with a waiver. 

You were reminded of the most likely reason as to why you were even allowed to take this job, even if it was only a theory. 

Deciding the risk was worth it, you provided your digital signature and sent it through. No turning back now. 

As you continued your work throughout the day, you couldn’t help but check your phone hoping to see an email, a call, or even a text message giving you further instructions but came up with nothing.

God, did CyberLife ghost you again?

It was now 11:30 in the evening and you had started to prepare to leave for the night when the automatic doors of your workshop opened. You turned around, a protest about entering without knocking quickly dying on your lips when you saw Connor. 

“Good evening,” he began, “I apologize for coming in so late.” He must’ve noticed you were getting ready to leave. 

You shook your head, “It’s alright, what do you need?” You asked, trying to hide the excitement in your voice. Not that it mattered, he could probably detect it either way. 

“I got a report about a homicide involving an android and I will not be able to start my mission without you present. So I am here to get you.”

You gave a wide smile and started walking out toward the elevators down to the exit, “Well let’s get going then!” 

Connor followed, long strides making it easy for him to catch up. “May I ask you...a personal question?” He suddenly said as you two waited for the elevator. 

You cocked your head to the side as the doors opened and you two stepped in. “What is it?” You asked, wondering to yourself exactly how personal he was thinking. 

“Based on my observations, the only reason you are accepting this job is so you can prove yourself good enough for the position of an engineer here at CyberLife. However, you seem genuinely interested in my mission as well...why is that?” 

You thought about it for a moment, “Well...believe it or not, I actually enjoyed our last mission together.” 

Connor processed this for a moment, LED spinning and humming, but he still looked lost. 

“It's hard to explain,” you continued, “yeah the scene was...unsavory and the situation was stressful...but it was also exciting! I’ve never really been out on the field before. It’s always just been me, my project, and my workshop. Now, I’m here to take on bigger things. Plus, this is my chance to learn something new!”

Connor continued to stare and you couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. Then he finally spoke, “So, from what I gather, you accepted the job seeking a change in your life”

You shrugged, “I...suppose you can say it like that. But it’s also the feeling of wanting more. Like I said, it’s hard to explain. Yes, I’m doing this for the opportunity...but I’m also doing this because I want to.”

Connor outwardly expressed acknowledgment, nodding before looking ahead again. However, his central processing unit was humming in his head, trying to figure out the enigma that was you. Eventually, he decided that it was probably better for both of you to get back on the topic of the case. He could analyze you more the longer you worked together.

-

The taxi pulled up and the two of you hopped in as Connor told the voice automated vehicle a street name for it to go to. Apparently, you had to pick up your other partner. 

“So...Where are we picking up the other guy?” 

Conner looked out the window as the car drove. “I don’t know.”

You stared at him in disbelief for a moment. He didn’t know? “Then where are we going?”

“To find Lieutenant Anderson.” He simply said, to which you frowned. He looked at you and your displeased expression and continued, “I was told that he was not at the station and that I would have to find him. I assure you, with my scans, it shouldn’t take too long, even if we do have to search in several bars.”

“Bars?!” What kind of washed-up detective were you being assigned here? You were about to protest, about to tell Connor that the two of you shouldn’t have to deal with this, that the DPD should be taking the two of you more seriously, something to express your frustrations, but then the car came to a stop. 

“I will begin searching. You are welcome to wait on the street or follow me,” then Connor was gone. 

You gave an exasperated sigh before exiting the car, making a mental note to remind yourself that he would never wait for you. 

It was raining, not so much that it was uncomfortable, but the drizzle definitely left you a little chilly. Connor weaved in and out of the drinking establishments along the street and his lack of company disappointed you every time he exited. It was getting late and you started to wonder if this Lieutenant Anderson even existed. What if this was some cruel joke the DPD was playing on you guys?

Of course, the reasonable part of you knew that was just impractical, but you’d be lying if you were to say the thought didn't cross your mind at least twice. 

You saw the light at the end of the tunnel when after the fifth bar, you noticed someone trailing behind Connor as he exited. The man was tall, gray hair reaching the bottom of his ears and a complete beard to match. His blue eyes looked tired and even...sad, whether or not it was from stress or alcohol was beyond you. You opted for a friendly introduction, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot , even if having to find him was a pain in the ass. “Hello, you must be Lieutenant Anderson.” You said, offering your hand for him to shake. 

He looked at your hand, then back to you before sighing and giving it one firm shake. “Hank… and who’re you supposed to be…”

You smiled a little wider and gave him your name “I’m here to observe Connor over here on your investigation. I’ll try my best to stay out of the way while you guys work.”

The Lieutenant scoffed, “Jesus Christ, the machines got a fucking babysitter…”

“It was one of the conditions the DPD listed if they were to take part in this project.”

Hank shook his head, “They probably would’ve taken it anyway if you kept pushing. People’ll do anything to half-ass work nowadays.” He started walking to his car as you followed, Connor trailing behind quietly. 

The grizzly personality of the man had surprised you. That, and the fact that he still had an automatic car. But the good part seemed to be that he was actually willing (enough) to work with you, even if he had an obvious aversion to androids. 

Hank opened the driver's side of the car and you frowned, “Hold on, there’s no way you’re driving like that!”

Hank looked at you, an angry expression clear on his face, “Listen, kid, I’m not one of your little CyberLife toys...you don’t need to baby me. I perfectly capable of-“

Connor stepped to stand next to him, “Perhaps you should let me drive, Lieutenant. I-“

Hank shook his head and shoved Conner to the side, “Oh no, no fuckin’ way am I letting either of you touch my car, not some plastic prick” then he pointed at you, “and definitely not it’s keeper,” he said before sitting in the car. 

You sighed and shook your head as you got on the passenger seat, making sure to buckle up. 

Maybe this would be harder than you thought.


	4. The Android in the Attic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader investigated her first homicide

You tried to make conversation, you really did. 

Okay, maybe you didn’t make conversation, but you wanted to try. However, you literally could not. Not with the Lieutenants loud heavy metal music blasting out of the speakers. 

Next time, you decided, you would offer to take everyone in your own vehicle. 

Hank pulled up to the crime scene, avoiding the civilians and reporters that were infesting the streets. He turned to look at you and Connor. “You two wait here...I won't be long.”

Before you could say anything, Connor piped in, “Whatever you say, Lieutenant,” he said as Hank left.

While Hank may have appreciated Connor's obedient behavior, you suddenly wished he wasn’t programmed to be such an ass kisser. 

Shaking your head in frustration, you turned around to speak to Connor. Only to be met with an empty back seat and Connors retreating form as he was leaving the vehicle.

He absolutely had to stop doing that. 

Pulling on the car door, now a little angry, you jogged to Connor’s side. “Would it kill you to wait for me every once and a while?” 

The sarcasm was lost on Connor, “What? No, it wouldn’t kill me…why would you think-“

The two of you were suddenly stopped outside the police line as a patrol android held its hand out. “No unauthorized personnel beyond this point.”

Hank looked over his shoulder and shook his head. “They’re with me,” he shouted, obviously frustrated. 

That was surprising. You were expecting him to turn you two away, maybe even yell at the two of you in front of all the EMT’s and press. Maybe the hard-shelled man w-

“What part of ‘stay in the car’ don’t you two understand?” He said gruffly. 

Ah. Baby-steps. 

“Your order contradicted my instructions, Lieutenant,” Connor explained. 

You nodded “And...I go wherever Connor goes so…”

Hank looked between the two of you, taking in Connor’s blank expression and your sheepish smile and he sighed. “You don’t talk, you don’t touch anything and you stay out of my way, got it?”

“Got it,” you and Connor said in unison, to which Hank shook his head again, muttering some sort of profanities to himself. 

You choked back a laugh as another man called out to Hank. “We were starting to think you weren’t gonna show.”

Hank rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that was the plan until this asshole found me.” 

The other man shook his head and chuckled, “so...got yourself an android, huh?”

The man led Hank into the house as he started discussing the situation, leaving you and Connor to follow. You took the opportunity to look around. 

It was still raining harder than it was before and you were wondering to yourself how everyone was so unbothered by it all. 

The house was...not the best looking, the paint was peeling off the front and the unkempt yard created an unappealing mix of tall grass and mud. The face of the house itself was anything but inviting. 

But you weren’t here to judge anyone’s lifestyles. Hank and Connor continued through the house as you followed behind them, listening to the man give details about the crime. As soon as you walked in, a blast of warm air hit your face, and an unidentifiable foul smell wafting around you. You started to wish you were back in the rain. 

Jesus Christ, what was that?

Your eyes stung and you held back a gag, feeling great pity for the first responders as you thought about what it must’ve been like for them. Connor, on the other hand, couldn’t even smell it, lucky bastard. 

You looked over to the right and found the source of the smell, the sight of a dead body distracting you from the horrible stench for just a moment. The body was slouched against a wall, eyes glossed over, skin sickly pale, and the flies around him told you he must’ve been there for a long time. 

You averted your gaze to find Connor crouching on the ground, running his fingers along a bloodied knife before licking it off his fingers. 

Hank caught sight of this too, expressing his disgust with a “Jesus, what the hell are you doin’?”

It was pretty disgusting, you had to admit. 

“I’m analyzing the blood. I can check samples in real-time,” Connor explained, gesturing with his blood-covered fingers, “I’m sorry. I should’ve warned you.”

You couldn't help but smile at the bluntness of Connor’s speech, even if it wasn’t intended to be funny. 

As Connor gathered evidence around the crime scene, you started to wish you minored in forensics or something so you could help in some way. 

Deciding you didn’t want to stand in the living room any longer, you followed Connor into the kitchen. Your eyes caught sight of a bat on the ground. Now, you were no detective, but it didn’t seem like the victim suffered any blunt force trauma, nor did the bat carry any blood on it so that must mean...

It had an evidence marker on it so you knew Connor would get to it eventually, but you wanted to confirm your suspicions. You called Connor over and asked him to scan the bat for you. 

“There are traces of thirium on the body of the bat.” He told you.

You frowned and looked at him, “So the man was beating the android…do you think that’s what triggered the android to attack its owner?”

Connor nodded, staring at you with that blank expression you had grown so used to. But now it made you feel a little uneasy. “From my analysis, that was the most likely scenario.”

You remembered back in the living room, above the body there were three words written on the wall. ‘I AM ALIVE.’ The words started to make more sense to you. 

“Well...doesn’t that mean it was just defending itself? If it was being abused then-“

Hank came over to you two, halting your conversation with Connor as he asked if he came up with anything. Connor looked over, any trace of anything other than a blank expression dying as soon as he launched into his theory. 

Surprisingly, Hank listened intently to Connor's proposal, even complimenting him in his own way with a “your theory’s not totally ridiculous,” he continued with a “but that still doesn’t tell us where it went.”

Connor processed this for a moment, “It was damaged by the bat...and lost some Thirium.” 

“Lost some what?”

You decided to answer, “Blue blood...it’s a type of liquid. It circulates energy and electrical information to an androids’ biocomponents, which are like its organs.”

Connor nodded in agreement, “Correct. Blue Blood evaporates after a few hours and becomes invisible to the naked eye.” 

Hank looked to Connor, “right...but I bet you can still see it.”

Connor smiled almost proudly and you wondered if he could even feel pride, “correct,” he echoed his past response. 

Connor left to follow that invisible trail and as you were about to chase after him again, Hank found his way next to you. “I don’t know how you deal with these things all day.” He said. 

You looked over at him and smiled. Sure, his remark was rather rude, but you found it nice he was trying to make conversation, “You get used to it. Plus, they’re pretty easy to work with.”

Hank rolled his eyes, “Right, because _RoboCop_ has really shown how good it is at following directions. It couldn’t even stay in the goddamn c-“ You were laughing. 

“ _R-RoboCop_?” You said between chuckles. “Th-That’s such an old movie, that’s the best reference you-you came up with?” You probably shouldn’t have been surprised, the Lieutenant still drove an automatic car, of course he would mention a movie that old. 

Hank frowned, but you still caught the playful glint in his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, laugh at the old guy. We’ll see who’s laughin’ when-“ he suddenly stopped talking, his frown becoming more real and genuine. “Hey, hey, hey! What’re you doin’ with that chair?” He called out. 

You turned around to see Connor picking up one of the chairs in the kitchen. You probably should’ve been following him to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. 

“I’m going to check something,” Connor explained simply, and he carried the chair out of your sights. 

You quickly followed Connor down the unnervingly dark hallway, “did you find something?” 

Connor climbed atop the chair. “Maybe.” He said, not offering more than that. He pushed the door of the attic to the side and peeked his head in. 

“I can-“ you started, but he already climbed the rest of the way, because of course he would. You sighed, dropping your hands to your sides in defeat. “-go with you…” you mumbled to nobody in particular. 

The minutes passed excruciatingly slowly even though it probably had only been maybe two. Hank found his way next to you again. 

“The fuck is it doin’ up there?”

You shrugged and sighed, “He said he may have found something.”

“Messes with the crime scene, climbs up the spooky attic, doesn’t tell us what’s goin’ on…” You listened to Hanks list of grievances with the RK800, looking up at him to see him shake his head and sigh before yelling, “Connor, what the fuck is goin’ on up there?!”

There was a beat before Connor called back to the two of you: 

“It’s here, Lieutenant!”

Your eyes widened and Hank seemed equally surprised. He called out to a couple officers in the hallway, leaving you alone as he went to go find them. 

You stood off to the side as the deviant was detained and practically dragged out of the attic. Something about it caused an unknown emotion to bubble in your stomach, and that feeling only grew when you made eye contact with it. With _him_. 

This wasn’t the first time either. You had this feeling on the high rise. When you saw that other deviant get shot. Three times. 

But at the time, you chalked it up to nerves. It was your first assignment, after all, you had been feeling uneasy that whole time and of course the horrific sight of the android bleeding out and shutting down would be jarring. 

But this was different. 

You were pulled out of your thoughts when Connor tapped your shoulder. Turning around to meet his gaze, you caught a glimpse of his LED spinning yellow. You absently wondered what information he was processing. 

As he led you back to the street, he explained, “We are heading to the station now. The Lieutenant offered us a ride.”

You paused and looked ahead to see Hank leaning on the side of his car, staring at nothing in particular with that tired expression of his, and you smiled. “Well, that sure is nice of him!” You made sure to say the last part extra loud wanting the old grump to hear. 

Hanks' little grumble as he entered the car did not fall on lost ears. After your small conversation with the Lieutenant, you concluded that his hostile nature was simply a front, hiding something warm beneath. You made it a personal goal to get him to open up, not because it was necessary to the mission, but it seemed the Lieutenant needed someone to talk to. 

The drive to the precinct had been quiet and you were reminded of how tired you were. Sure, you’ve had your fair share of all-nighters, but running around Detroit, looking at dead bodies and detaining deviants has drained you more than you anticipated. 

But then the thought of detaining deviants reminded you of the android in the attic and you suddenly became less tired, that uneasy feeling making its way through your gut again. You looked at the driving Lieutenant for a second. 

“What’s going to happen...to that android?” You asked. Thankfully, he wasn’t playing any obnoxious heavy metal. 

Hank shrugged, “We interrogate it, get it to confess, and...keep it as evidence, I guess.”

You nodded, as an idea popped into your head. “Would the DPD allow me to take it to my lab after the interrogation? I want to scan it, maybe find an anomaly in its code or something that caused its...outburst.”

The Lieutenant shrugged, “You’re barkin’ up the wrong tree here kiddo...I’m don’t handle that kinda stuff.” 

You gave an understanding nod and looked down at your lap. To be honest, you didn’t even know what you would look for if you got the poor thing on your observation table. All you wanted though was to find out a scientific explanation for their behavior. At least then you wouldn’t have to accept the alternative explanation…

The three of you arrived at the station. Hank got out first and started walking into the building, the car door closing shut behind you told you that Connor took his exit, leaving you in the car. You sighed, opening your door only to be greeted by the sight of Connor waiting for you outside. You were surprised at how he actually took note of what you said back at the house.

You shut the car door behind you and you smiled at the android, “You waited.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement as you wanted to point it out.

Connor nodded, hands folded behind his back, “I did.” He didn’t explain any further.

The station was mostly empty, but that was to be expected given the time. A couple officers still sat at their desks as they nursed cups of coffee in their hands. The deviant sat in the interrogation room alone as a group of officers were gathered in the observation room. 

Hank decided to go in first and pretty quickly, it became obvious a confession wasn’t going to be easy to extract. 

Upon closer inspection, you noticed the android had many injuries. One of his arm panels was damaged, exposing the circuits beneath it. His other arm had the android equivalent of scarring, burn marks you would assume, not that it mattered. You knew they weren’t self inflicted.

It became clear that the android had obviously suffered through some heavy abuse and was traumatized by it. Not that the android was justified in what he did, but it sure brought back that uneasy feeling. 

You realized what you were feeling was guilt.

Also confusion. Logically, the android should never have defended itself, let alone stab his owner multiple times. Stuff like that goes against its programming. But just like with the deviant on the high-rise, you understood in a way. 

A loud bang - Hank slammed his hand against the table - distracted you from your thoughts. “Say something, goddamnit!” He bellowed. 

You winced at his tone and watched as he got up from his seat, looking at the group through the one way mirror before saying, “Fuck it, I’m outta here.”

Hank stomped into the observation room, “We’re wastin’ our time interrogating a machine, we’ll get nothin’ out of it,” he complained before sitting down in one of the rolling-chairs. 

There was an awkward pause before the Detective against the wall, Gavin Reed you heard someone call him, spoke up, “ ‘Could always try roughing it up a little…” he proposed. You felt a frown tug at your lips. “After all, it's not human…”

Technically, the Detective was not wrong. But you couldn’t help but wonder how he can look at that android's face and be perfectly comfortable with putting him through more abuse, human or not. Before you could say anything though, Connor, with as good of timing as ever, spoke up. 

“Androids don’t feel pain…you would only damage it and that wouldn’t make it talk.” Connor reasoned, which you were thankful for. “Deviants also have a tendency to self-destruct when they’re in stressful situations.”

Gavin pulled himself off the wall, “The fuck you mean self-destruct, is the thing gonna blow up?”

You sighed and turned to him, “It means the android would destroy itself. If it destroys itself, we wouldn’t be able to get any information from it…”

Gavin eyed you up and down, “Ah...and who are you supposed to be?”

“I’m a lab technician from CyberLife; I’m here to help with the investigation.” You said, fully turning to face him.

The Detective rolled his eyes, “Some help you are...Y’know if you really want to help out, you could send that plastic f-”

“Or,” Connor said, stepping closer to you and facing Gavin, “I could try questioning it.”

Gavin stopped and stared at the two of you for a moment before bursting out into full, unfiltered laughter. You got a little red in the face at the disrespect you and Connor were getting. 

Who does this guy think he is anyway?

The laughing stopped and there was another pause before Hank broke through the silence, shrugging as he said, “What do we have to lose?” Hank turned his head to look at Connor, “Go ahead, the suspect’s all yours…”

You flashed him an appreciative grin as Connor walked out of the observation room and into the interrogation room. 

Connor took his time to scan through everything, no doubt to increase the probability of success. Even as he sat down, he took an extra second to analyze the deviant, LED spinning as he processed the information he was collecting.

Unfortunately, Gavin Reed was not too keen on waiting. “Jesus Christ, how long is it gonna sit there…” he groaned. 

Sighing, you turned your head to where he was once again leaning on the wall, “It’s just preparing itself for the interrogation so it can extract the confession...unless you don’t want a confession and want me to send Connor back to CyberLife...because you very obviously seem to have everything under control. ” You said, making it a point to emphasize your sarcasm. 

Gavin frowned and pointed at you, “Hey, don’t you get all smart with me,” he said through his teeth, crossing his arms again. “Y'know, you looked better before you opened your mouth.” 

Oh, okay. Now all you wanted to do was to give Detective Douchebag a piece of your mind. But before you could do anything that would cause you to end up in that interrogation chair yourself (thankfully), everyone in the room turned their heads at the sound of Connor’s booming voice. 

“28 stab wounds!” He yelled. You were surprised, to say the least. He has never taken on that kind of tone before. You didn't even know androids could even be capable of it, let alone Connor. 

It was almost odd to see him like that, circling the android like a shark, all the while guilting it into a confession. It was such a contrast from his normally compliant behavior. He was ruthless like this and it was working. 

You would’ve been proud were it not for the pathetic pleads of the deviant which only built on your guilt. He begged his interrogator to stop which eventually prompted Connor to sit back down, but he continued to press. 

Connor returned to that soft tone you had gotten used to and you were beginning to think he decided to take a different route. But then he pointed at you through the one-way mirror, “If you don’t talk to me, I have a colleague in there that would be more than happy to rip you apart, piece by piece, to analyze you. You will be dead. Do you hear me? Dead.” 

That seemed to be the nail in the coffin because the deviant finally started talking and oh, how you wish he hadn’t. As if you couldn’t feel any worse for it. Not only were you indirectly the reason for him giving in to the pressure, but now you had to make him relive his torture. 

He went into great detail about his experience with his owner, Carlos. None of the things he said surprised you but that didn’t make it any less heartbreaking. 

Before you knew it, the information was obtained. Connor looked to the mirror once again and gave a firm, “I’m done.” Before getting up. 

You shivered at his emotionless tone, not that he had any _real_ emotion in the first place, but it was just so different compared to what you were used to.

The group of officers trailed into the interrogation room to collect the HK400 with you at the back. One of the officers tried guiding him from his chair when he pulled away, a sudden and quick “Leave me alone,” leaving his lips followed by a quiet, “don’t touch me.”

The officer ignored him, only pulling on him more aggressively. 

“The fuck are you doing?” Gavin hissed.

You had just about seen enough. 

“Leave it alone!” You yelled, taking a step closer to the table. 

“I don’t take orders from you.” He growled, pushing you away. 

Connor spoke up, “My colleague is right. It will self-destruct if it feels threatened.” 

You and Gavin turned your heads to look at him, both of you surprised, but one of you seemed to appreciate it must less. 

“Hey, you stay out of this!” He frowned, “No fuckin’ android is going to tell me what to do.”

If you heard that phrase one more time tonight, you swore you were going to smack someone.

“You don’t understand!” Connor suddenly said, “If it self-destructs, we won’t get anything out of it!” Now, maybe you were projecting a bit, but you were almost certain Connor was getting frustrated. It wasn’t that fake anger he expressed towards the deviant either, this frustration seemed urgent and completely his. 

“I told you to shut your fuckin’ mouth!” Gavin yelled again before turning away from Connor again to face the struggling cop and deviant. “Chris, you gonna move this asshole or what?”

The cop, which you now know as Chris, continued to try and pull at the android and you could already tell this was a bad path to take. If this continued, you knew that he would take any necessary measures to cease its functions. 

As a last resort, you turned to your android partner, “Connor, there’s no reasoning with him! You have to do something, you know what’ll happen if we don't...” 

“I know.” He said before marching over to the pair, pulling the officer and deviant apart. “I can’t let you do that!” He had his interrogation voice on again, “Leave it alone, now!”

You thought Connor physically stopping the struggle would put an end to it. That was until Gavin drew his gun, no hesitation, and pointed it at him.

“I warned you, motherfucker!” He screamed as if he was some big shot who had been personally wronged. 

You heard Hank's voice cut in, “That’s enough,” he ordered, but Gavin did not stand down. 

“Mind your own business, Hank,” he said through grit teeth.

In the split second of silence, you suddenly stepped in front of Connor, an action that seemed to surprise everyone in the room, yourself included. The barrel of a gun was probably the least inviting sight you’ve ever seen.

The Detectives eyes moved from the android behind you to yours and he scoffed. “Are you fucking serious?!” You didn’t answer, “You would take a bullet for a machine?”

From the corner of your eye, you saw Lieutenant Anderson draw his own gun and point it at Gavin, “I said ‘That's enough.’”

You maintained eye contact, “I suggest you put your gun away, Detective,” and goddammit your voice was shaking. 

Gavin had a small internal struggle for a moment, but with shaking hands and a face contorted in anger, the detective finally withdrew his weapon with a curse. He took a look at the faces around him, putting in the extra effort to threaten Hank before stomping out of the room, no doubt to continue his tantrum somewhere else.

You released a shaky breath at his exit, feeling like the air in the room had cleared. You turned around to Connor, “You alright?” you asked and he offered a wordless nod. 

You don’t know what you were expecting in response, but the lack of a thank you irked you a bit. 

But then you watched as he crouched down to the traumatized deviant, listened to how he reassured him, how he urged the cop to not stress him anymore and you couldn't help but smile. 

Chris cautiously left the room, android in tow. But as he passed Connor, he whispered a shaky, “The truth is inside.” You could barely hear it, but you were certain Connor picked up every vowel. You looked at him to gauge his reaction to what he heard and noticed his slightly downturned eyebrows and the way his eyes moved around like he was thinking about something. He almost looked confused, conflicted even. 

You could ask him about it some other time, you decided. You weren’t in the mood for dissecting any cryptic bullshit tonight. For now, all you wanted to do was get back to CyberLife so the two of you could get your reports in, no doubt they would be pleased with the successful mission and the lack of injuries this time, even with the few bumps in the road. 

“Ready to go?” You asked softly, and his expression returned to normal. 

“Yes.” Is all he said as he straightened his tie, walking toward the door but waiting for you to follow before he exited.

You offered Hank a “thank you” and a “have a good night!” before you and Connor left the precinct, a taxi already waiting outside for you. You assumed Connor called it in. 

As you hopped in, you looked to your android partner “Nice job in there,” you said almost awkwardly. Why was this suddenly so hard for you? Androids were once the easiest things to talk to but apparently, you forgot how to hold a conversation. “You handled the situation...well!”

Connor looked at you for a moment, “I was hoping to ask you a few questions.”

Oh. You were not expecting that at all.

“Sure, Connor,” you said before swallowing nervously, “what did you want to talk about?”

You watched as Connor’s LED began rapidly flashing as he thought about his next words carefully. 

“Why did you step between me and Gavin when he had his gun on me?” You sort of saw that coming. “I’m expendable. You are not.”

You frowned at the way he spoke about himself and sighed, “I was hired to keep an eye on you and that’s what I intend to do, whether that be repairing you or standing up to disrespecting detectives,” you said with a smile. “Plus..he was only so comfortable with shooting since you’re an android. I knew he wouldn’t have shot a human.” Correction: you _hoped_ he wouldn’t have shot a human. 

Connor nodded slowly in understanding and seemed to accept this explanation, but you could tell he had another question for you. “I noticed you have been under some emotional distress ever since the deviant was detained,” he began and you suddenly felt like you were the one getting interrogated, “I wanted to know the cause.”

You stared at your partner in shock. Why couldn’t he ask you something about your favorite movie or food or any other possible ice breaker that wasn’t personal?

“I-I guess I just...I don’t know, felt bad for the suspect?”

The RK800 didn’t seem to understand. “Felt bad for it? For what reason?”

You sighed, and shrugged, “I-I don’t know! I could just see it was in pain and I-”

“Androids can’t feel pain,” he reminded and you frowned. 

“I know that! But it obviously was upset about how it was treated all this time. You heard it's confession, it said it was only defending itse-”

“You’re forgetting that androids don’t hold the same rights as human beings. The deviant murdered a man using excessive force, even if-“ It was your turn to interrupt. 

“What if it was you?” You asked him. 

Connor stared at you and blinked, LED flickering to yellow for a second, then a second more, then it held that color. He had not been anticipating you to say that and it caused him to hesitate, something he has never done before. His entire system was built for the exact opposite actually, and yet you continue to surprise him. 

“What if it was you who was being abused?” You continued, “What if I took a bat and started beating you senseless just because you were an android...not that I would do that to you! Just...hypothetically speaking.” 

What if it had been him? What an odd question of you to ask.

“I do not have the ability to empathize. But if I were to hypothesize I…” he paused, “I would have no choice but to endure. The first law of robotics state’s that I can not hurt a human being.”

You expected an answer like that. But the way his LED continued to hold onto that yellow hue made you wonder if there was something else on his mind. However, the answer to that was not something you would obtain soon because apparently, he “very urgently'' needed to make his report to CyberLife.

Watching Connor close his eyes, you pulled out your own phone and began typing away. Might as well get your report out of the way too.


	5. Morning in the Zen Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Connor takes a moment to think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short and sweet Connor-centric chapter!!  
> also- an alternate title for this chapter: Amanda is Literally the Worst

Connor opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the sunlight washing over him. 

It was the morning after the interrogation and Connor was, for lack of a better term, excited to report back to Amanda. No doubt the news of success would please her, as well as the fact that you and he were working quite well as a team (Lieutenant Anderson would be a long term endeavor). 

His thoughts were brought to you - something that seemed to happen many times ever since your first mission together. He had so many questions for you and not even half of them had any relevance to his mission which was something that troubled him greatly. 

That and the system warnings that would pop up occasionally when he spoke to you. 

It was somewhat concerning for him. He knew what he was programmed for and personal questions certainly were not it. 

Now, that isn’t to say he never was supposed to ask personal questions. How else would he get to know the people he was working with? 

No, the trouble was he wanted to get to know you for reasons other for ease of work. 

But, that’s an issue for another time. Right now he had to talk to Amanda. 

He quietly approached the woman as she was tending to some flowers. He kept a large distance from her, not wanting to invade her personal space and gave a polite, “Hello, Amanda.”

She turned around and returned his greeting with a soft smile, “Connor, it’s good to see you.” There was a beat of silence. “Congratulations...finding that deviant was far from easy,” she praised, “and the way you interrogated it was very clever. You’ve been remarkably efficient, Connor” Amanda turned back around with a smile on her face and a single rose in her hand.

In the back of his mind, the question of whether or not you liked roses popped into his head. 

He ignored it. 

“Thank you, Amanda.” 

Amanda turned around once again, “we’ve asked the DPD to transfer it to us for further studies...it may teach us something about what happened.”

Connor perked up at this. He remembered on the way back to the precinct, you asked Hank if they would allow you to carry out analysis on the deviant. Surely, you would be happy to hear the news. 

“I will let (Y/N) know right a-“

Amanda frowned and turned to Connor, “I’m afraid you misunderstood…” There was a passive bitterness in her tone that made Connor recoil, “Your technician partner has no authority over the evidence. She will not be taking any part in the analysis of this deviant.”

Connor stopped, blinking rapidly and processing what he was just told. You were so dedicated to your work and practically everyone knew you were capable of more than just repairs, so he didn’t exactly understand why you wouldn’t be allowed...

Amanda noticed Connor’s internal struggle, and Connor noticed her noticing and returned to his attentive state. 

He willed himself to push all these thoughts away. They were not pertinent to the mission, therefore they have no place in his mind. 

“Do you enjoy working with (Y/N), Connor?” Amanda asked. The question was so sudden, Connor had a minor stutter in his processing units and he actually had to think for a moment.

“Yes, I do.” He responded. 

“Why?”

Oh. That was not a question he was prepared to answer. In fact, that was the question he seemed to be asking himself whenever he wasn’t investigating and it ~~scared~~ troubled him. 

“She is extremely dedicated to her work. She has shown that she will do whatever she can to prove herself and that makes her easy to work with. I also find her character interesting…” He paused, “sometimes, I find it hard to predict what she will do…”

According to his knowledge of the human psyche, which was extensive to say the least, people avoided stress as much as they could (that was one of the main reasons androids were created, after all), and you were beyond stressed on your first mission. 

He scanned you frequently throughout that night. Your sympathetic nervous system was kicked into high-gear causing your body to produce copious amounts of epinephrine and norepinephrine - in other words, you were in fight-or-flight mode. But it wouldn’t even take the scans, nor a high-tech machine, to see you were stressed. Your shaking hands were enough. 

He was aware that some people craved the adrenaline rush, like when people opted to watch a horror movie or ride a roller coaster, all controlled situations. You however, had no control over the situation, meaning that there was a slim chance the stress you were under was positive, and yet...you kept a level head throughout it all. Even going as far as standing up to Captain Allen. 

That was not the only time you subverted his expectations. 

He went into your workshop earlier the next day with the probability of you agreeing to work with him again sitting at a pathetic 23 percent. He stood outside your workshop door, tossing and flipping his coin while thinking about what he would say to convince you for nearly two minutes before entering. Only to have you say yes before he could execute his plan.

Needless to say, that wasn’t the outcome he was expecting. ~~Hoping~~ Aiming for? Yes. Expecting? No way.

And then there was last night. Detective Reed had a gun trained right between his eyes and it was you who stepped in. He could tell that you were acting purely on instinct and the fact that it was your instinct to protect him confused him to no end. 

You were a mystery that he could unravel for days and-

“It seems you have thought a lot about your partner,” Amanda said, forcing Connor from his thoughts. 

Connor nodded, “Yes well, I believe that getting to know my partners will make my job even easier.” 

“I suggest you cease this side-quest of yours and put your entire focus in the mission.” Amanda said, “(Y/N) sees you as nothing more than an opportunity; a stepping stone to a promotion.” 

Connor’s LED rapidly began flickering, flashing red for half a second before settling on yellow. No, you would never think that little of him, he _knows_ that...but he would be lying if he didn’t think that it was a good explanation for your behavior.

‘Why does it matter what you think,’ a voice in his head said.

‘It doesn’t,’ another one said and he clung onto that, repeating the phrase in his head like some sort of mantra. 

And yet the potential of what Amanda said being true made something in him ‘ache’. 

Amanda sighed, turning around again to face the troubled android. “More and more androids show signs of deviancy.” She frowned, “There are millions in circulation. If they become unstable, the consequences will be disastrous.” The tone she took on was aggressive and Connor suddenly felt like he had failed her in some way. “You are the most advanced prototype CyberLife has ever created. If anyone can find out what’s happening, it’s you.” 

“You can count on me Amanda…” Connor assured.

Amanda began to walk off, but before leaving she turned to him again. “Hurry Connor, there’s little time.”

As if he needed a reminder.


	6. Problems in the Precinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader tries to understand

Today was a Saturday and normally, you would’ve had the day off. So when Connor came knocking on your door at 9:00 in the morning shouting into your studio apartment about how you’re expected at the DPD in an hour, you were surprised...and a bit annoyed. 

You were enjoying your new job a great deal, but what you were also enjoying was the warm weight of your blankets. 

But work never sleeps. 

So, tucking away your reluctance, you eventually got up to get ready. You opted to wear something more casual. On a normal workday you would’ve worn something nicer along with your CyberLife issued lab coat. But if you were expecting to be following the RK800 around Detroit, you at least wanted to be comfortable while doing it. 

Plus, putting away the pencil skirt and blouse for a day sounded extremely good right now. 

You threw on some jeans, a cotton button-down, as well as your jacket. It was the rainy season and you thought it best to be prepared. 

You glanced at yourself in the mirror and frowned at the dark crescents beneath your eyes. Last night had not only been long, but you didn’t even sleep right away when you arrived at home. The uncertainty surrounding your opinions on deviancy and the guilt that ate away at you kept you awake for hours until you finally forced your mind away from those topics. 

Instead, you tried focusing on what your actual job was about.

Connor.

He was a confusing creation that you desperately wanted to understand. 

You deduced that he was programmed with some sense of free will in order to carry out investigations independently and that fact was dangerously intriguing to you. Part of you was afraid of that free will and what he would do with it. 

Another part of you wanted to see how far you could push it. 

But this wasn’t an independent project, it was a job. And that job was waiting for you outside your apartment. 

You walked out your front door and to your right, you saw Connor standing off to the side, eyes closed, and LED displaying a yellow. He really had to be sending a report now?

You lightly tapped his shoulder and - Jesus Christ! - he opened his eyes and you had a mini heart attack in response, gasping out a “God, you scared me!”

Connor cocked his head at your reaction and his small smile looked almost amused. 

Your ears began to get warmer as embarrassment made its way through you. “S-sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to...wake up.”

Connor paused for a moment and wiped his smile off his face before nodding. “Noted. I will be sure to be more cautious.” Was all he said before leaving. 

The briefness of his response upset you. He wasn’t always like that. It was actually his friendly nature that made him easy to work with and now it was like he’s been reset. 

You quickly followed the androids retreating form and took a look at his face. His expression was the same as always, blank and calculating, but his eyes now lacked that warmth you had gotten used to. His LED had also yet to shift away from that yellow. 

It bothered you. 

The ride down the elevator, the walk to the taxi, and the first two minutes of the ride were full of an unbearable silence and you couldn’t take it anymore. 

“You alright, Connor? You haven’t really spoken much all morning...” You asked, voice soft but tone desperate for an answer. 

Connor tore his gaze from the window, perking up at the sound of your voice and you internally smiled at how not-blank his expression was, even if it was just for a moment. “I’m... just going over the evidence we collected last night.” His hesitation scared you, “why do you ask?”

You stared at him in response, studying his face for some kind of change. His head tilted to the side like he always did, one of his brows quirked up, and his mouth pulled into an almost frown. But most importantly, you saw a glint of _something_ in his eyes. It was quick, blink and you’d miss it quick, but after years of working with/on androids, you had gotten pretty good at spotting the little things. 

In your years of work, you learned that all androids had little quirks, things that set them apart from others. For some, it would be how they shift their weight between their feet when they stand idly or how some would play with their fingers while processing information. For others, their little quirks would be smaller, like how some tended to look off to the side while speaking or in Connor’s case, how he tilts his head like a curious puppy. It was not only interesting but endearing to you. 

While it wasn’t often they would do those things, you made it a sort of game to find them whenever you had an android in your workshop. The way that these small bits of individuality would worm their way into their programming fascinated you, along with the fact that they could develop on their own. 

It made them feel more real to you, and despite what everyone said, including science, you’ve always had suspicions that androids are more than what people say they are. 

This whole deviancy thing fueled your theories. 

What you saw in Connor's eyes for that split second was curiosity, conflict, and something akin to confusion. 

The look of uncertainty and caution did not suit him and you felt a need to put any and all of his uncertainties to rest. 

“What do you mean?” You finally said.

Connor blinked, “You asked if I was okay. You should know I’m not capable of emotional distress, let alone emotion, so I’m failing to understand your motives.” Now, his intonation did not sound defensive, his voice was calm and leveled like always. But the words he chose, deciding to state the obvious fact that he could not feel emotion, something that you _both_ knew, made it feel defensive. 

“It’s...my job to make sure you’re alright.” You reasoned, offering a smile in the hopes that it would ease the android, “That, and I do really care about how you’re doing, Connor. I know you’re an android and all, but I can’t imagine the pressure you’re under...don't want to overload your processors or anything, y’know?”

Connor continued to stare at you and you began to fear that perhaps friendly wasn’t the best approach. “I assure you. I will do whatever it takes to complete my mission and I’m fully capable of handling this case.” You know that, he said it many times before. Why was he saying it again? What was wrong? His tone was cold, like a machine but not like _him_.

Before the conversation could carry on, the taxi arrived at the station, and Connor left the car.

This time, he didn’t wait for you. 

-

You followed Connor into the station, watching how he walked and slowly started to grow more frustrated with how little he spoke to you. If he acted this way from the beginning, you may not have minded, but something had changed between the time that you wished him a good night to the time that you greeted him with a good morning. Hopefully, you’d find out what had changed as the day went on. 

You trailed behind Connor as he scanned the nameplates on each desk before finally finding the empty Lieutenant Anderson’s desk. 

“He must not be here yet…” you mumbled to yourself.

Connor looked around before calling out to an officer at a nearby desk, “Excuse me, do you know what time Lieutenant Anderson usually arrives?”

The officer turned around, “that depends on where he was the night before,” he said, sounding slightly annoyed at being interrupted. “If we’re lucky we’ll see him before noon…”

You snuck a peek at Connor's face and saw his slightly dejected expression as he gave a half-hearted “Thanks.”

At least he wasn’t a total blank slate. 

You did a quick once over of the station and noted how different it looked during the day. It was lit up with the natural light of the sun rather than the fluorescent ceiling lights, and the hustle and bustle of officers and clientele made it feel more alive. The one thing that remained the same was the cops that clung to their coffees like a lifeline and it reminded you that you could really use one yourself. 

You turned once again to the nearby officer, “Do you...think I could have a cup of coffee?” 

He looked over to you for a second before gesturing towards the break room, “Coffee machine’s in there. Knock yourself out.” 

You gave a quick thank you and turned to Connor. “I’ll be right back, why don’t you go...explore the place.” You said, leaving before he could give a response. 

You wanted to talk with Connor about what’s been bothering him, wanted to get a real answer, but not before you get some sort of caffeine in your system. You entered the break room and immediately regretted it as you made eye contact with the one and only, Detective Douchebag, Gavin Reed.

It was too late to back out now though, so as you walked to the coffee machine, you silently prayed that he would ignore you, maybe even not recognize you. It was a possibility, half of the time you spent in his presence was in the dimly lit observation room and the other half of the night was full of yelling and gun waving. Surely, he wouldn't recognize-

“The hell are you doin’ here?” So much for that hope. 

You began to mentally prepare yourself for whatever dumb bullshit this man was about to spout. 

You didn’t even give him the satisfaction of turning to face him, instead, you watched the coffee maker dispense your drink as you responded, “Connor and I are here to work on a case with Lieutenant Anderson.” 

“I see,” he said and you heard the clicks of his shoes get closer as he approached, “where is that plastic prick anyways?”

“Exploring the station,” you grabbed a cup, “why do you ask? So you can go waving your gun around again?”

There was a moment of stunned silence and you smiled into the rim of your cup as you took a sip.

“Listen, I feel like we got off on the wrong foot…” Gavin began. That’s when you turned around and gave him a confused look. Maybe he’s not so bad after all? “I just wasn’t expecting you to be so uptight.”

Never mind. 

You took a step to the right as Gavin leaned on the counter next to your left, “Look, all I’m saying is, you...look good. But I’m sure you’d look better with a couple of glasses of wine in your system.” He flashed you a smile and you wished you could slap him. 

You narrowed your eyes, definitely not in the mood for this, “Are you trying to imply something, Detective?”

Gavin laughed, “Y’know, now that I think about it, feisty ones like you are fun. “

You were speechless. Never before have you encountered someone like...this. But part of you wondered if he was right about needing to loosen up a bit. 

Before you could dwell on it any longer, from the corner of your eye, you spotted your android partner approaching the break room at a swift pace. 

How much did he hear?

Not that it mattered that much, but you caught his split-second expression of...something...on his face and hoped that he was there to help you. However, given how much the world has messed with you today, you weren’t banking on that hope. 

Gavin caught sight of the android as well, turning to face him with a scoff, “Fuck, would you look at that,” he said, looking at you for a moment like he expected you to laugh, “our friend the plastic detective is back in town! Congratulations on last night, very impressive,” he finished with a slow clap. 

Connor stared at him, “Hello. Sorry to interrupt, but I need my partner for something.”

Gavin ignored him and instead stepped closer to him, “Never seen an android like you before…” he said as he eyed him up and down, “What model are you?”

“He’s an RK800...y’know like it says on his jacket…” you quipped, which Gavin did not appreciate one bit. 

“I’m sure it can answer for itself.” He frowned. 

“My colleague is correct. I am an RK800 prototype.” 

Gavin nodded in acknowledgment, “A prototype!” He pointed an accusatory glance at you, “So you’re having machines replace us all, huh?” Before you could say anything, Gavin looked to Connor, “Hey, bring me a coffee, dipshit!”

Connor may have been annoying you today, but there was no way you were going to stand for this. You frowned and stepped between him and Connor, something that you hoped wouldn’t become a common occurrence. “He’s not your maid.” 

This time, Gavin ignored you as well, “GET A MOVE ON!” he yelled. 

“I’m sorry, I can only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson and (Y/N),” Connor said and you knew from the flash of rage on Gavin’s face, Connor had made a mistake. 

Gavin took a moment to give a sarcastic chuckle, then he pushed you to the side which caused you to hit the wall. Connor’s eyes followed you and as if the situation couldn’t get any worse, Gavin delivered a direct blow to Connors mid-section. 

You knew before the android even fell down, he was hit right in the thirium pump. That would for sure cause everything in him to stutter. Connor’s LED flickered red for a second and the sight of the oh-so-perfect ‘android sent by CyberLife’ on the ground upset you more than it should’ve. 

“Leave him alone, Gavin!” You yelled, dropping to Connor's side. 

Gavin gave the two of you a sour look, “Y’know, I was just about to forgive you and Hank for gettin’ in the way of me disciplining this android. But now…” he scoffed again, “I want you all to stay out of my way.” He crouched down to Connors level, “And you...you better watch your back. Because next time, I’ll be sure your bodyguard won’t be here to save you…” And with that, he walked out of the room, leaving you and Connor on the tile floor. 

“God, what an asshole.” You muttered and looked at Connor. “You okay?”

Connor nodded and stood up, “Yes. Nothing was damaged, just a mi-“

You huffed and shook your head, standing up after him. “I’m not talking about your biocomponents, Connor.” The android looked at you for a second and slowly tilted his head. He didn’t have to speak for you to know what he was confused about, “I’m talking about _you_ …” you said, pointing a finger at his chest. 

The android stopped, that conflicted look in his eyes returning and you decided that this time you’d leave it alone. 

“Never mind,” you said, “what was the thing you needed me for?”

Connor looked away, his head turned to show you that spinning LED of his. It finally turned back to blue as he spoke, “Nothing. I just noticed that you were uncomfortable and...thought it best to intervene.” 

Your eyes widened as a smile made its way on your face. He was worried about you. 

You then remembered the obvious fact that _he was not programmed to worry,_ but that fact mattered the least to you at the moment. 

You realized you’d been staring and your face got warm. Does Connor even register the silence as awkward? Not wanting to find out, you gave Connor a soft, “Thank you…” 

Connor gave a smile and this time, it reached his eyes. 

-

The rest of the morning was sort of a blur. By the time Hank arrived, you had already finished your coffee and he definitely did not appreciate the perky greeting you and your android partner gave him as much as you hoped he would. 

Not even a minute after the Lieutenant walked into the precinct, Captain Fowler had poked his head out of his office and asked, no, _ordered_ Hank into his office. 

You and Connor sat through that awkward meeting between Hank and Fowler and the amount of yelling between the two of them made you feel like you weren’t supposed to be there. 

The news of working with the two of you had put him in a sour mood. Or rather, the news of working with Connor had put him in a sour mood. 

Not only that, but you now have to sit through Connor’s sad attempts at speaking to Hank. You were practically dying of second-hand embarrassment because it absolutely, positively _was not working_. Instead, the Lieutenant sat in his chair, arms crossed and pouting, like a child throwing a fit. 

You ~~almost~~ genuinely felt bad for your android partner.

Thankfully, Connor gave up on introductions and instead asked if there was an empty desk for him to use.

Conveniently, for the two of you at least, the desk across from Hank was empty and you had guessed as to why. 

Connor sat down in the desk chair, and you pulled up one of your own, spinning in your spot hoping to pass time as the two of them worked. But Connor was not planning on working yet. 

“Do you listen to Knights of the Black Death?” You heard him say and you stopped spinning to see where this conversation was about to go. “I really like that music...It’s...full of energy.” 

“You listen to Heavy Metal?” Hank said, staring at Connor in confusion. 

“Well, I don’t really listen to music, as such...but I’d like to.” 

You stared at Connor in amusement and it appeared Hank had something on his mind as well, doing a double-take before looking back at his terminal. 

Apparently, the Lieutenant enjoyed talking about his interests. 

“You have a dog, right?” Connor said, suddenly changing the subject. 

Hank narrowed his eyes, “How do you know that?” 

“The dog hairs on your chair.”

You quietly chuckled to yourself. Of course he could pick up the little things like that. 

“I like dogs,” Connor said, and you couldn’t help your growing smile. You couldn’t tell whether or not he was just saying that, but the way he said it, innocently and like it was an obvious fact, did something to your heart. “What’s your dog's name?”

It appeared Hank didn’t share your feelings and replied to the question with a salty, “What’s it to ya?” You frowned and prepared to admonish the Lieutenant for being so rude when you saw him purse his lips for a moment before giving in. “Sumo...I call him Sumo.” 

You smiled and decided to join the conversation, “That's a cute name…what kind of dog is he?”

Connor looked at you, “Judging by the dog hairs on his seat, he owns a Saint Bernard.”

Hank let out a frustrated huff, “Hey, word of advice, don’t answer specific questions like that for someone else. People are gonna think you’re some stalker freak selling their information to CyberLife or some shit.”

You snorted out a small chuckle and gave the confused Connor a pat on the shoulder. Technically, the Lieutenant had a point.

Connor blinked away his confusion and decided it was time to get to work. “If you have any files on deviants, I’d like to take a look at them.”

“Terminal’s on your desk,” Hank said, exasperation lacing itself in his words. Baby-steps you reminded yourself. “Knock yourself out…”

Connor activated the terminal, scrolling through the files, scanning them and committing them to memory. You absently watched him, not sure of what to do when your eyes caught something. 

You quickly grabbed his shoulder, “Wait, go back-“

Connor and Hank looked to you, wondering what had caught your attention. Connor went to the previous case file and you read through. The suspect was a part of the AX series and normally, that fact would be insignificant. But the victim's name was familiar to you. 

Todd Williams.

“I finished repairing this android just yesterday morning…” you mumbled. “Everything was fine with it...It showed no signs of deviancy and there were no anomalies in my scans…”

“Deviancy tends to be a sudden occurrence,” Connor began explaining, pulling you away from your thoughts, “in most reports, victims report no build-up to their androids strange behavior. Since this case is the most recent and you are somewhat familiar, this will probably be a good start to our investigation.” 

Connor pushed himself out of the desk and approached Hank, only to have him turn his chair away with an, “ugh, Jesus…”

You watched as Connor furrowed his brows, obviously frustrated with the lack of cooperation, “I know you didn’t ask for this investigation, Lieutenant, but I’m sure you’re a professional,” Connor tried reasoning. 

“Why don’t you go fuck yourself,” Hank said, completely brushing him off. Now, you could intervene here. In fact, you should intervene here. But you wanted to see how Connor would handle this situation. 

You half expected him to give some blunt and obvious response about how he can’t ‘go fuck himself,’ but instead you watched as the android put a hand next to the Lieutenant and hovered over his shoulder. 

“I’ve been assigned this mission, Lieutenant,” his voice was low and threatening, “I didn’t come here to wait until you feel like working.”

That was not the approach you were expecting.

And Hank did not seem to enjoy it at all. He got up, grabbed Connor by his jacket, and pinned him up against the wall.

“Listen, asshole! If it was up to me, I’d throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it. So stop pissing me off...or things are gonna get nasty,” he threatened, holding Connor like a rag doll. 

“Hank! Let him go!” You cried, not enjoying the sight in front of you. 

From the corner of your eye, you spot an officer approaching with great caution. You turn and recognize him as Chris from the night before. “Is he always like this..?” You ask, gesturing to the angry old man. 

“Only on good days.” He joked, and you let out a breathless chuckle. Chris looked back to the arguing pair. “Lieutenant,” he started as Hank released his grip on Connor, which you were grateful for, “uhm...sorry to disturb you. I have some information on that AX400 that attacked the guy last night…it’s been seen in the Ravendale district.” 

You were sure Connor caught every word Chris said, Hank, on the other hand, continued to glare at the android. 

You were tempted to make a joke about how if he was trying to have a staring contest, he was definitely going to lose. But, you decided it was probably not the time for jests. 

Hank gave an irritated, “I’m on it,” before walking off, leaving you and Connor at the desks. 

You sighed and approached him as he straightened his tie. “You seem to have a talent for pissing off officers today,” you said with a chuckle. Connor ignored you and you could tell he was mulling over what just happened, probably calculating what went wrong with his approach. You sighed and lightly nudged his shoulder, “Hey...don’t worry about it too much...I’m sure he’ll come around eventually!”

Connor looked to you, “I hope so.” And with that, he started walking away. 

You watched your android partner approach the exit and stop before reaching the reception area. He turned and met your eyes, waiting for you to come join him. 

Normally, you would’ve been happy that he was waiting for you again. But something he said latched itself onto your mind.

_‘I hope...’_


	7. On the Lam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader and Connor disagree

The ride to the Ravendale district probably only took about ten minutes, but the tension in the car added about ten years to your inner clock. You sat in the back with Connor and every time he opened his mouth to say something to the not so happy Lieutenant, you put a hand on his shoulder and shook your head. 

You caught Hank’s appreciative eyes in the rearview mirror. 

When the three of you arrived, Hank got out first, finding someone to debrief him on the situation. You and Connor got out on your respective sides and you took a moment to look around. Thankfully, the crime scene was not at the top of a high rise nor a dilapidated house and there were no dead bodies in sight. While you enjoyed the excitement your new job brought, this was a breath of fresh air and brought a sense of normalcy back into your life. 

But the longer you stood next to the idle android, the more you wished for there to be something to do.

However, as you looked up and down the streets, you couldn’t help but wonder how in the world they were meant to track down a deviant in an area like this. Surely, it had to have gone?

You knew you probably shouldn’t have, but you hoped that the android had left and put as much distance between herself and whatever situation she was in that drove her away. Not that you would get in the way of the investigation - your job was to make sure Connor was working at maximum efficiency - but you were tired of the guilt weighing you down. 

You didn’t know exactly what caused deviancy, nobody did really, but you had some theories based on the constants with each of your encounters. All of them seemed to have experienced an emotional shock, whether that be the idea of getting replaced or the long term effects of abuse. 

You remembered the broken AX400 on your workshop table, the vacant and angry eyes of the client, Todd, and you suddenly had an idea as to what she might’ve been through. It didn’t do any good for your conscience. 

Connor continued to stand quietly by the car, staring off straight ahead. While it seemed like he wasn’t listening, you knew that he was documenting every word that went on between Hank and the other officer, (at least you hoped so since you certainly weren’t listening).

Once Hank was done with his debriefing, Connor looked down, thinking about what he just heard. “It took the first bus that came along...and stayed at the end of the line” he began and both you and Hank looked at him, “It’s decision wasn’t planned, it was driven by fear.”

Hank scoffed, making a “tsk” noise, “Androids don't feel fear.”

“Technically,” you said, deciding to join the conversation to feel more useful, “Deviants do.” Hank looked at you, brows furrowed and a small frown on his face. He was confused. “I-it’s just a theory I have for now, but deviancy tends to start with an emotional shock. It...the android most likely experienced something traumatic and decided to run away.”

Hank nodded, “Ah well, that still doesn’t tell us where it went.”

Connor thought for a second, “It didn’t have a plan...and it had nowhere to go.” He looked between the two of you, brown eyes alight with something akin to pride for his deduction that for some reason made you feel sick, “Maybe it didn’t go far.”

You felt like you had been punched in the gut. Not only because you felt like you were being judged by every seasoned and hardened officer in the vicinity, but also because talking about trauma like it didn’t matter was a lot worse when spoken about out loud. Thankfully, Hank was too focused on the task at hand, and Connor seemed to not notice, (and if he did he was also too focused on his mission). 

Both Hank and Connor made their way down the street and you decided to take a moment to collect yourself, remind yourself of the facts. 

What is your job? To make sure Connor is working at maximum efficiency so he can complete his mission.

What is the purpose of his mission? To neutralize deviants.

Why is neutralizing deviants a good thing? Deviants are dangerous.

That’s when your mind hit a roadblock. Were deviants actually dangerous? Sure, you’ve seen first hand how much they harm people but it isn’t like humans haven’t done worse. It was less of a ‘deviants are dangerous’ situation and more like a ‘deviants have the  _ potential _ to be dangerous.’ 

And while that was bad, that fact applies to everyone else.

You were pulled from your thoughts when your eyes caught something. It was a little detail that was so easy to miss, but again, you got good at spotting the little things after years of your work. Next to you stood a tall chain-link fence and at the base, a hole. It was small but definitely large enough for a person to fit through. Or an android. 

But that’s not what initially caught your attention. What you noticed first was the faded thirium smear on the fence. Had you come maybe even ten minutes later, it would’ve been gone. But the fact that it was still there at all told you that androids had come through recently. 

Your immediate instinct was to tell Connor. He would be happy to have this information and it could move along the investigation, but...you found yourself crawling through the hole instead. 

In front of you now was an abandoned brick house. As you examined the graffiti littered the walls and you started to hope that maybe the hole in the fence was caused by vandals and that the faint blue smear was actually paint. However, that hope was crushed the moment you peeked through the boarded-up window to see three androids sitting at a table. 

That was odd...there was only one android mentioned in the report. You looked between the three of them and noticed a YK500, a WR600, and one of them you recognized as the missing AX400. 

Your attention was then drawn away from the AX400 to the WR600. It was  _ badly _ injured by what looked like burn marks on its face and its clothes told you that it had been squatting in this abandoned house for a while now. You frowned thinking about what it must’ve been through. 

The three of them were speaking but you couldn’t catch any of it, especially since half of your hearing was occupied by the noise of your blood rushing through your ears and your heart pounding in your chest. Your mind was screaming at you to get Connor, you just found the suspect plus two other androids, you  _ should go get Connor _ . 

But you physically couldn’t bring yourself to do it. 

At least, that was until you heard the rustling of the chain-link fence and you shot up from your crouching position, vision blurring from the speed at which you stood.

You rounded the corner to see Connor crouching by the chain link, “There’s blue blood on the fence…” he said to Hank as he crawled through, “I know another android was here.“ He then met your eyes with surprise and confusion and you suddenly felt like you had been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to. 

“C-Connor!” You said, trying to calm yourself down, “You startled me! I was...just about to get you!” You hoped the excuse would explain your behavior. Plus, half of it technically wasn’t a lie. 

Lucky for you, Connor seemed to believe it. He nodded and began to approach you, “My apologies,” he said with a smile, “but you should be more careful. It would be best if you stayed with Lieutenant Anderson until the deviants are detained.” He gestured to the cross-armed Lieutenant on the other side of the fence. 

The two of them served as a reminder of why you were here. 

You continued to try and keep your mind on what you’re there for and what you have to gain, reminding yourself that you could finally achieve your dream of becoming an engineer at CyberLife. And all you had to do was keep an RK800 android functional. 

Surely, it would be worth it in the end?

The uncertainty behind that question did nothing good for you. 

Connor’s eyes left yours as he took a look at the abandoned house behind you. As he started walking toward it, you grabbed his arm. “Woah, Woah, Woah!” you exclaimed and Connor looked at you with wide doe eyes which for some reason made you feel calmer, “so, I have to be careful around here but you can just walk around the spooky abandoned house?”

Connor nodded, “It would be better if I were the one to get hurt.” 

You frowned, “Part of my job is my job to make sure  _ you _ don’t get hurt.”

“No. Part of your job is your job to fix me if I get hurt. Prevention may be preferred, but not necessary to complete your task. It is also your job to make sure I complete my mission and that is what I am doing.” Connor reasoned and you sighed in frustration. 

But that’s not what you wanted at all. You didn’t want any of them to get hurt, not the deviants and especially not Connor. 

You stared into your android partner's eyes, searching for something, anything other than that determination to complete his task, “I don’t want to see you get hurt.” You said honestly and you saw his face twitch as he contemplated what you said. 

After a beat of silence, Connor looked at the abandoned house again as he weighed his options before he looked back to you, “You can come in with me. But be close to the door and be prepared to run if something happens.”

While it wasn't the response you were hoping for, it was better than Connor going in alone. You gave a firm nod and a smile, “Deal.”

As the two of you wrapped around the house, you became starkly aware of your lack of a plan, as well as the fact that you had no idea what you wanted to do. While you didn’t want to get in the way of Connor’s mission, you also weren’t sure detaining the androids was the best move. 

In each of their minds, they were doing what was right and you weren’t sure what was right in yours. 

Connor suddenly stopped walking when the two of you passed the boarded-up window, your entire body tensing as he crouched down to look inside. You began mentally preparing yourself for what could happen when Connor spots the three--

“There’s an android inside,” Connor said and you looked at him in surprise. 

“An...an android?” As in singular? There was no way for the other two androids to have slipped past you...

“Yes…” He said as he approached the door, “I’m going to see if it saw anything.”

You slowly nodded as you followed closely behind him. The squeaks of the door echoed throughout the empty house. You noticed it was warm inside, at least warmer than it was outside. It was nice. However, it struck you as odd given that the androids had a fire going and none of them really needed heat unless the YK500’s temperature sensitivity was on. But why would they keep it on if they were on the run? Wouldn’t that be a hassle?

You decided it was best that you stopped theorizing about their lifestyles if you knew what was good for you. Connor began grilling the WR600 for information. You tuned into the conversation and took a moment to examine the gardening android more closely. 

The first thing that you noticed is that he would refer to himself in the third person, calling himself Ralph. How did that habit come about? Ralph also seemed nervous, his responses were delayed and shaky and in no way good for him if he really was hiding the other deviants. Your eyes then moved to the burn marks on his face. They were deep and cut right through his skin panels. However, if you managed to get the parts, it would probably be an easy fix…

Connor began to move around the house, searching every nook and cranny as Ralph stood still in the what would be the living room. You quietly stepped closer to him and as he caught your eyes, you watched as he physically tensed, eyes searching the room for something. 

He began blabbering, “R-Ralph doesn’t feel comfortable around humans…” 

Your heart hurt. Of course, he wouldn’t feel comfortable around humans, they were probably the ones that harmed him. You tried to give a soft smile. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you…” You said quietly not wanting to upset him, “My uh...my friend won’t hurt you either…” you gestured to Connor as he exited the room in the far corner and he approached the stairs. 

Ralph took a step back and reached for something behind him on the table, “Humans are dangerous…” he mumbled.

You inched forward, “I...I can see what they did to you...I can-”

Ralph suddenly pulled a knife from behind his back and pointed it at you, the tip of the knife scratching your cheek with how close you two were. You froze in place, not knowing what to do. “Don’t come any closer or Ralph will-” 

“Put the knife down!” The two of you heard Connor yell. Ralph turned to where Connor was as he stood near the bottom of the stairs. Ralph looked between the two of you, obviously panicked. 

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, Ralph charged toward Connor, knife dropping to the ground as he pushed him into the wall, “RUN! QUICK! KARA!”

Suddenly, the two other androids you saw earlier crawled out from under the stairs, running toward the back door. On their way, the AX400 bumped into you, knocking you to the ground. As she passed and your eyes met, you could’ve sworn you saw her eyes flicker with recognition.

But that didn’t matter right now. 

You turned to where Connor was as he slowly got up from the ground, frantically looking around for the deviants. No doubt he was just as surprised as you were. 

Hank must’ve heard all the commotion because not even ten seconds after the two of you got up, he entered through the door looking very tired and frustrated. “Connor, (Y/N), what's goin’ on?!”

Connor began running toward the exit yelling at Hank, “It’s here! Call it in!”

The two of them ran out without another word and you locked eyes with Ralph one more time, catching his regretful and even shameful expression. You decided that now was not the time for this kind of project. 

You ran out the door, back under the fence, and toward the sprinting RK800 not too far from you. With adrenaline coursing through your veins, you ran through the streets like a madwoman trying to keep up with Connor’s impossible pace. 

You eventually caught up with Connor at the end of an alleyway and you saw as he was gripping the fence as if he would die if he let it go. You stopped running to catch your breath and as you looked ahead, you saw the two deviants running toward the street. Your heart caught in your throat as they passed the barrier separating them and the road. 

What was worse was that you saw Connor attempt to scale the fence. You grabbed onto his jacket and pulled. You knew he could easily pull out of your grasp but he stilled anyway, “I can’t let them get away!” He practically yelled at you.

“And I can’t let you kill yourself trying to complete your mission!” You screamed back, breathing heavy still. 

“I’m willing to risk it. The mission takes top priority.” He said urgently as he tried climbing the fence again. 

God, you wanted to punch him.

You pulled and clung to his arm instead. If he wanted to reach the other side he would have to drag you with him and you knew that was the opposite of what he wanted. “Will you  _ please _ stop talking as if you don’t matter!! I don’t want you dying out there in the middle of the road! Please, Connor!” You begged. 

You knew you were being selfish and that what you were doing didn’t make any sense. You were jeopardizing Connor’s mission. You were putting your job at stake simply because you didn’t want to watch Connor die in the street because, even though you could easily bring him back, it wouldn’t feel the same. It was selfish and it was illogical, but to you, it  _ felt _ right. 

“There will be other opportunities…this isn’t the way to go...” you continued softly. 

Connor finally looked at you, confusion, and even a hint of betrayal in his eyes. But he ended up relenting, releasing the fence and you smiled in turn. 

The two of you watched as the two androids weaved through the traffic, avoiding all cars that came their way and when they reached the other side, they shared a hug. 

You felt a warmth make its way through your heart. 

You released a breath and you looked to the android beside you. “Thank you…” you mumbled, finally letting go of his arm and you stepped away. 

It felt cold.

Connor didn’t say anything. 


	8. Burgers and Birdkeepers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader makes a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAFJHAKJF soooooo I'm sorry it's taken me an ungodly amount of time to update this. Long story short, university started, personal stuff happened, I kinda fell into a funk, but hopefully, I can get back to this! I had fun resisting (y/n) and the android sent by cyberlife so please enjoy!

As the two of you watched the deviants make their escape through the fence, Hank finally caught up with the two of you. He rested his hands on his knees, heavily breathing to catch his breath. Surprisingly, he didn’t make a huge deal out of the two of them getting away, but that didn’t make the walk out of the alleyway any less shameful. 

Hank led the two of you to his car, making a joke about how all that running forced him to take his lunch break early. You sat in the back again next to Connor, thinking it would be better to gauge how he was taking the situation. The entire ride there, Connor didn’t say a word and you were starting to feel bad. 

His entire purpose circulated his mission; the cost for failure could result in deactivation and while the concept of deactivation shouldn’t have bothered him, it bothered you. 

Hank parked the car outside of a single food truck, not saying anything to either of you two as he got out. You took a couple of seconds of silence as an opportunity to speak to Connor alone. 

You turned to him and suddenly felt a sharp stinging in your cheek. You pulled back on reflex, only for Connor to meet your eyes with a stern look, wordlessly urging you to stay still. You turned your gaze to the alcohol wipe in his hand and you suddenly remembered the scratch Ralph gave you. 

“A little warning would’ve been nice…” he didn’t respond, he just kept staring. “Where did you get that?” You asked, turning your head to grant him easier access to your wound. 

“I know you keep both android and human first aid in your bag.”

You chuckled, “You’re pretty nosy,” you joked and again, got no response.  _ Stupid _ . Of course, he’s nosy, that’s his job! 

“I’m sorry...if I hurt your mission by telling you to let the deviants go.” You said quietly, averting your eyes away from the android beside you. It was an odd feeling, fearing what an android would say to you. 

“It’s alright,” he said after a moment and you looked back to him in surprise, “I most likely would not have made it across the street in time to catch them. You were doing your job,” he paused, “I should probably thank you. Damaging myself would hurt the investigation more than anything.” And then he smiled and God, you felt your worries melt away. He crumpled up the wipe in his hand before his smile faded into a frown. 

“I know I am in no position to give orders but...I suggest you follow my directions next time so we can ensure your safety,” he said. His face was blank but his voice seemed to betray him. It was such a contrast from this morning. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” he continued, ”I should probably reconcile with Lieutenant Anderson and apologize for the unpleasantries this morning,” he said before exiting the car, leaving you alone in your own surprised state. 

You wondered if he actually believed what he said or if he tailored that response to make you feel better. However, you decided you would rather join the two detectives on their lunch breaks than to read into it or his behavior.

It probably meant nothing. Just some minor hiccups that come with prototypes.

You exited the car, approaching the Lieutenant and the android as they stood at a cocktail table stationed by the food truck. As you walked up to the pair, Connor had just asked Hank if there were any questions he had for him, to which he sharply replied with a “Hell, no.”

And then he retracted that statement immediately after.  _ This should be interesting _ . “Well, yeah,” he began before eyeing him up and down then turning to you, “It’s actually more of a question for you but...why did you guys make him look so goofy and give him that weird voice?”

You held back a laugh and held up your hands, “I wasn’t the one who designed him.” As rude as it was, the Lieutenant’s unfiltered disposition made things funnier than they should’ve been. That isn’t to say you agreed with him, you actually felt a little offended  _ for _ your android partner.

“Cyberlife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans,” Connor answered, “Both my appearance and voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration.”

Hank nodded, seeming to understand before looking Connor dead in the eyes, “Well, whoever designed you fucked up.” Although you couldn’t disagree more, you couldn’t hold back the bit of laughter in your throat after hearing his dry tone. Hank and Connor looked at you. 

You felt your face warm in embarrassment and shook your head before you turned to Connor, “Don’t worry Connor, I think the engineers did great with your design.” It wasn’t a lie either, you truly believed that making Connor the way they did was the best route they could’ve taken. He had a look that didn’t fall into ‘such a blank face it’s in the uncanny valley,’ and was still capable of intimidation. 

Connor smiled and looked to Hank, “It appears the majority would disagree with you.” 

Hank furrowed his brows, “Yeah, yeah, whatever…” he mumbled before taking a bite of his burger. You caught the amused look in his eyes. 

Connor looked between you and Hank before offering, “Perhaps we should tell you everything we know about deviants.” It appears he wanted you to join the conversation. 

Hank gave a sarcastic, “You read my mind!” but quieted down to listen anyways, prompting Connor with a, “Proceed.”

Connor began describing the theory on how deviancy starts, “We believe a mutation occurs in the software of some androids which can lead to them emulating a human emotion.”

Hank rolled his eyes, “In English, please…”

Connor looked over to you and you took that as your cue, “We at CyberLife believe that something traumatic happens to them and it causes their processors to...freak out...kind of. They’re overwhelmed with the situation and that causes their unpredictable behavior.”

Hank looked down in thought as he sipped from his soda, “Emotions always fuck everything up,” then you saw it again. That sad look in his eyes and you wondered what this poor man has been through. “Maybe androids aren’t as different from us as we thought.” 

That surely threw you for a loop. You noticed the anti-android merchandise that decorated his desk earlier that morning, so his response to the deviancy situation was one that you least expected. 

“Have you guys dealt with deviants before..?” 

You can Connor looked at each other, sharing a look before you turned back to Hank, “A few months ago. We investigated a deviant that was threatening to jump off a roof with a small girl.” You paused, remembering that night. It was so vivid in your mind, even after three months. You could remember every sound, every sight, every word spoken, but the thing that stuck with you the most was the deviant’s eyes and the fear and grief they held. If there was one thing that CyberLife mastered, it would be the eyes. “Connor managed to save her though. Very impressive stuff, don’t you think?” You asked the Lieutenant. 

Might as well push him more if you wanted him to warm up to you two. 

Hank rolled his eyes for maybe the 100th time that day, “Yeah, whatever, I’ll pat you guys on the back for that one. But don’t expect me to inflate your guy’s ego any more...don’t need more CyberLife goons feeling like they own the world.”

You gave a chuckle and nodded in agreement. While you did work there, that didn’t mean you were oblivious to the pride everyone there carried. If you were higher on the CyberLife food chain, perhaps you’d be the same way. But, being that you worked the customer service side of the company, you weren’t. 

At least for now, you weren’t. If you and Connor succeeded, then you had the chance at a promotion.

Okay, yeah, CyberLife is a corrupt monopoly of a company, but you have dreamed of working there as an engineer ever since you were younger. Plus, given that CyberLife  _ is  _ a monopoly, it was basically the only place for you to work with androids unless you wanted to work as a freelance android technician. You even considered it for a while after graduation, but decided not to; there were too many things that could go wrong and you’d have a better chance at a stable career if you obtained a job at CyberLife.

Landing that internship with Elijah Kamski was a dream come true, your link to a job. Until he resigned and you ended up getting rejected by CyberLife for the position of engineer due to your ‘lack of experience,’ and ‘lack of focus on given tasks.’ In Cyberlife’s eyes, you were too focused on your own personal theories and projects to follow the direction of those in the development lab. So, you took up the technician position instead. You had accepted the fact years ago that you’d never get your dream job...but now you were so close to what you’ve always wanted and all you had to do was do your job and...follow directions.

Your subconscious started screaming at you, bringing the reality of what your job was to the front of your mind. Doing your job sounded good theory, hell, you had no problem with the idea of assisting Connor in detaining deviants when you first met him. But something changed that night on the high rise and the idea of doing your job didn’t sound so great anymore. Pretty soon after, you began to feel the idealized version of your dream corrupt. 

You couldn’t help but wonder if it really would be worth it. 

You decided to stop reminiscing and contemplating and tuned back into the conversation, panic rising in your stomach as you realized you didn’t know what the hell either of them was talking about. 

“So, what’s your conclusion?” Hank said. Conclusion? Conclusion about what?

Luckily, Hank was addressing Connor and not you. You looked over at the android in hopes at getting a clue as to what the topic is about, only to see a thoughtful look on his face, “I think working with an officer with...personal issues is an added challenge,” he said, and you felt relief at finding out that the conversation was just idle chatter now, “but adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features.” And then he winked and- _ oh god, who programmed him for that?! _

Your stomach did a flip and your heart started pounding and you had no idea why. Yeah, he was programmed with _some_ free will when it came to investigations and interrogations but he was neither investigating nor interrogating. Someone was responsible and when you found out who, you weren’t sure if you were going to commend them or condemn them, but you were going to do something. 

Connor blinked rapidly as his LED flashed between yellow and blue. “I just got a report of a suspected deviant. It’s a few blocks away.” He said, eyes trailing off to the side, “we should go have a look.” And then he stood up, returning to that mechanical formality as if he hadn’t just given you a figurative stroke, “I’ll wait for you two in the car.” You swore you caught a smirk on his face before he fully turned away. 

Hank crumpled up his trash into his hand and he shook his head, “Some android you guys built…”

“Yeah…” you mumbled, eyes tracking Connor’s retreating form, “he is…” you smiled fondly. 

-

The apartment building was...gross. It was absolutely fucking disgusting. It looked almost abandoned with its extremely gray, moldy walls and dust gathered in the corners, all tied together with the concerning bumps in the elevator. You gripped the bar behind you as the entire elevator groaned and shook as you made your way up. 

“I’m no elevator mechanic but I’m pretty sure elevator rides aren’t meant to be...turbulent,” you joked, trying to distract yourself from your paranoid mind. 

Hank laughed at you and crossed his arms, “Calm down kid. We’ll be fine,” he flashed you a smile and pat your shoulder with paternal comfort. It worked for the rest of the ride. 

When the elevator doors opened and you pushed past him, grounding yourself in the solidity of the concrete floors as you took in the damp walls around you. Hank followed suit before turning after not hearing Connor follow. “The hell is wrong with him?” You heard him say. You looked back as well and there Connor stood, still in the middle of the elevator, eyes closed and LED flickering yellow. 

You sighed and shook your head, “He’s sending a report to CyberLife.” Hank looked to you in surprise before you called out to your android partner, “Connor!” He fluttered his eyes open and looked at both you and Hank. You chucked at his seemingly clueless expression, “Come on...unless you want to stay in there all day.”

Connor made a face at your playful jab, “No! I’m coming,” he said defensively. 

You couldn’t help but tilt your head at that. You enjoyed seeing his personality develop but you’ve never seen an android develop a personality so quickly and one with so much depth. His goal was still his mission but you’ve come to notice that he approaches it with so much passion and rigor. 

Shouldn’t that make him more prone to deviance? Is that why you were hired? But if that’s true, why was it the DPD that requested someone to watch the RK800 and not CyberLife’s order? Why-

You stopped yourself. Theorizing about conspiracies was going to get you nowhere and it certainly wasn’t going to get you a promotion. It hasn’t done you any good before and it won’t help you now, not when Hank and Connor were already down the hall, knocking at the suspect’s door and yelling about how the police were here.

You made your way closer to them when a loud bang from within the apartment caught all of your guy’s attention.

“Stay behind me,” Hank ordered and there it was again that paternal authority. You absently wondered if the Lieutenant had any children.

The android nodded, verbally confirming his order with a “Got it.” The two of them backed up and Connor looked at you from over his shoulder, holding out an arm to guide you more behind him and shielding you from anything that could ambush the three of you. Funny how he was the one making sure you were okay when it was your job to do the same to him, but you made no arguments. 

Hank kicked in the door with his gun drawn and a determined look in his eye. He then started kicking in the doors in the foyer as he searched for any people (or androids). Connor walked forward through the threshold into the apartment. 

“Careful…” you said to him, following closely behind.

He offered you a nod before looking at you again from over his shoulder, “Just stay behind me.” You noticed how his gaze shifted from your eyes to your cheek where the cut was. 

_ He was worried about you _ .

This wasn’t the first time either. Your unpleasant encounter with Gavin earlier that morning had attracted Connor’s attention too and even snapped him out of whatever funk he was in this morning. Along with that, the incident with Ralph left his processing units humming for a whole car ride. Both times you thought nothing of it, but the third instance was hard to ignore. 

You knew that you should report this to CyberLife, that the deviant hunter was acting outside of his mission, but it didn't even seem like Connor was aware of what he was doing. So if neither of you included it in your reports...

Nobody had to know, right?

You felt guilt bubble up in your chest. But that paled in comparison to the guilt you felt with the android in the attic so you reassured yourself with that fact. It didn’t do much. 

The three of you reached the door at the end of the hallway and the moment Hank opened it...birds? 

A fuck ton of birds. 

You didn’t know what you were expecting, but this surely wasn’t it and it startled all of you, Connor - who immediately got ready for a fight - included. 

You let out a shaky sigh as you tried to calm yourself down. “Do you think this is what made the noise?”

Connor surveyed the infested room before shaking his head, “No...they wouldn’t explain the loud thumping before we entered. I’m going to take a look around and see if I can find anything,” and with that, he went off on his own, observing everything at maximum efficiency.

Almost immediately, Connor found a notebook. You looked over his shoulder to see what was written in it, only to scrunch your nose up at the writing. You couldn’t understand a word of it; it wasn’t even written in Latin script. 

“I think... it’s encrypted…” you thought aloud, and Connor glanced over at you. You met his eyes and nearly jumped because good god, your faces were close together. Not that Connor had any sense of personal space, but you were still a little embarrassed for invading his. 

You stepped away as you caught Connor’s LED flash for just a moment, right before he turned back to the book. “I think you’re right,” was all he offered. 

You decided to take a look around as well. If the tip was true and a deviant had been squatting here, this would be the first time you could look around their ‘home’ without any unstable androids or other cops. 

The apartment itself was about as bad as the rest of the building, accented by feathers, dirt, and other unknown substances. There was (unsurprisingly) no power, so the only light the three of you got was the natural light of Detroit’s clouded sky.

You followed Connor into the bathroom, careful not to step on any birds or any residue they left behind. There, your eyes were immediately drawn to the obsessive writing on the wall. The phrase ‘rA9’ was written over and over again. You were not expecting things to get...cryptic. 

Connor stood by the sink where a detached LED sat. An android was obviously here...but where did it go?

Hank approached the two of you and leaned against the bathroom doorway. His eyes caught the writing on the wall and he tilted his head, “any idea what it means?”

Connor scanned the room, mulling over his findings. “rA9...written 2,471 times. It’s the same sign Ortiz’s android wrote on the shower wall...why are they obsessed with this sign?” he said to nobody in particular. 

You kept asking yourself what rA9 was and even entertained the possibility that the ‘what’ could be replaced with a ‘who’ and you didn’t know which one was more confusing. It wasn’t so far-fetched that deviants could create this concept in their processing units, especially if the theories were correct about deviancy simply being anomalies in coding. But if rA9 was a being, then the world was dealing with an organized group that was rapidly growing in numbers. 

Or, an even more compelling theory of yours was that rA9 was both a concept and a being. An android higher power, a messiah, if you will, with the intention to buy back their freedom. If that were true, then that would mean deviants were not full of ill-intent like others thought. Yes, they were angry, but it would’ve been righteous anger in your opinion. They had hope.

You decided to tuck these speculations away for your own personal research, but not before snapping a couple of photos of the writing on the wall. You had been so lost in thought, you didn’t even notice that Connor had left you in the bathroom to go inspect the main room again. 

You stepped out of the bathroom and gray had flooded your vision and you yelped, hiding your face as birds ambushed you. God, they were annoying. Your vision cleared and you spotted Connor examining a hole in the ceiling and when you were about to turn away to examine the counter, a large  _ thump _ grabbed your attention. 

The android had just jumped Connor from his spot in the ceiling, effectively rendering all three of you motionless; Connor because he had been attacked and you and Hank because the commotion had startled the pigeons. 

“God damn fuckin’ pigeons!” Hank exclaimed, shielding his face. He looked to the android rising from the ground as he commanded, “What are you waiting for, chase it!” 

Without a word, Connor began sprinting out the door as you began to mentally prepare yourself for, unfortunately, more cardio. 

You and Hank ran outside to see your android in hot pursuit of the deviant. He looked...really fucking cool. But there was no way for you two to catch up to them. 

Unless you cut them off. 

You stilled, examining both of their paths as Hank looked back and yelled at you. “C’mon kid, they're not gonna slow down for you!”

You looked off to the side and noticed a higher point of the building. Perfect. 

“I know where we can cut them off, let’s go!” You yelled and ran back into the building as Hank cursed and chased after you. You began frantically searching for any sign that gave any directions as you ran down the hall when your eyes caught a dimmed exit sign pointing to a steel door. 

You pushed it open with your shoulder, ignoring the sharp pain that came from the force of the impact, and began bounding up the stairs. You heard Hank’s heavy breaths behind you as you prayed that you would reach the roof before the two androids. 

You pushed the door -which was thankfully lighter- leading outside and spotted the two androids a bit farther away. You breathed a sigh of relief knowing that you had time to catch your breath. 

The door behind you was pushed open and Hank let out an undignified wheeze as he put his hands on his knees. “Jesus Christ, kid…” he huffed, “thank god you found that shortcut...we’re in the perfect position to-“

Suddenly, a rustle in the cornfield to your left grabbed both of your guys’ attention. Hank drew his gun and was immediately attacked by the deviant. Your breath caught in your throat as you watched the two wrestle. You tried to pull the android off of the old man from behind, but he kicked backward, and his foot landed on your stomach, leaving a dirty footprint on your shirt and sending you butt first to the ground. You heard a rustle in the cornfield again. 

Connor.

Suddenly, Hank cried out as he was thrown over the ledge. “HANK!” You called, scrambling to get up to reach him when Connor grabbed your wrist. 

“You’re not strong enough. Chase after the android, I’ll get him!” He said and you could only blink in absolute shock. He had every reason to disregard the both of you for the sake of his mission, yet he had put the chase on pause to help Hank. To make sure _ you  _ weren’t at risk as well. Why? Why had he- Connor was less than pleased with your hesitation. “If you try and pull him, you have an 89 percent chance of being pulled down and both of you will fall, now hurry!!” He said urgently and pushed you forward. You decided this wasn’t the time. 

You turned on your heel and began chasing after the deviant. Your lungs burned and your legs wobbled, not to mention you were a little winded thanks to the blow to the stomach. But you noticed ahead of the both of you there was a dead-end; nothing but the edge of the building. 

The deviant would either have to face you or jump off and when he got to the ledge and spun his arms as he tried to regain his balance, he chose the former. But when he turned to, you started to wish he hadn’t. 

He turned to face you. He wasn’t out of breath like you were, a fact that reminded you he was an android. But his defensive stance and absolute fear in his eyes brought back the feeling of guilt. 

And then he started begging. 

“Please…” he said, voice shaky and desperate, “I’ve done nothing wrong. I just wanted to be free. You...do you know what they’ll do to me if you turn me in?!”

You could hear your heart thumping in your ears. You knew exactly what would happen if you turned him in. He would get torn apart, piece by piece, wire by wire, just so they could find out what went wrong. 

But what if nothing was wrong?

Obviously, something was abnormal in their behavior, but what if there was more to it than that. You had been entertaining the idea that deviancy wasn’t simply an error and realized that you had subconsciously been pushing that theory into your actions. The way you treated Connor, when you asked him for his opinions or how he’s feeling, that was all you pushing your android partner. 

It was the exact opposite of your task but it felt so…right and natural. Not just because deviants piqued your interest, but because - whether you would admit it or not - you had started to believe in them. 

You were always more sympathetic towards androids than other people were, but even though you never abused them, you never treated them like friends either. Your background and your job had you believing that they were machines incapable of feeling, but you always were curious about how their minds worked. You wondered if there would be a time where the androids would ‘wake up’ and even proposed this question to-

You realized that you had been staring at the android for a while, heavily breathing from both the running and gravity of the situation. With one last look at his eyes, the words left your mouth before you could even think, “Hide behind the solar panels. I-I’ll tell them you got away and when we’re gone, you can go.” 

_ What were you doing?! _

The android seemed to be skeptical of you as well. Neither of you was expecting you to say that, but when the two of you heard two pairs of loud footsteps, he ran behind you and ducked behind cover. 

You were still heavily breathing by the time Hank and Connor caught up to you. You hoped you could pass it off as just a side effect from the running. Connor grabbed your shoulder, “Where is it!” He said urgently and you started to feel guilty again. 

You considered the possibility that your decision was a mistake. That you could just...tell them where the deviant was hiding. But the image of the scared yet determined android flashed in your eyes again. You heard Daniel’s voice and felt Ralph’s fear and decided, no, you were going to stand by your decision. Nobody had to know what you did. 

“H-he pushed me down...and got away. I tried to follow him, but I didn’t know what direction he went in…” you looked down, whether that was to hide your guilt or your lie was beyond you, “I’m sorry.”

Connor put his hand on your shoulder to grab your attention, “It’s my fault. Catching him was my directive and I failed. If I had been faster…” he trailed off and you looked into his eyes. 

He wasn’t like the deviants. He was obedient and calculative but his face held something else. You offered him a soft smile, “You saved Hank’s life! And you kept mine out of danger. I think you’ve done plenty of good.” Connor didn’t say anything. “What I’m trying to say is...Thank you, Connor.” You smiled wider and looked over at the Lieutenant behind the RK800. 

He huffed and crossed his arms, “what she said.” That was probably as close as you were going to get as far as thank you’s went, but you still shot Hank an unimpressed glare before looking back at Connor. “Why don’t we head back to the precinct and try to find out the next lead…” you suggested and Connor nodded, beginning to walk toward the stairs back into the building. 

His lack of response upset you slightly but decided not to say anything about that either. You followed the two detectives, but not before glancing behind you. Rupert was poking his head out from behind the solar panel he was crouched. 

Your decision was finalized as the distance between the two of you grew and even though you felt guilty for jeopardizing Connor’s mission, you found comfort in one fact.

Nobody had to know.


End file.
